Imprinted In Volterra
by CrystalG1
Summary: Thanks so much for everyone who've asked me to repost this story! Jacob is heartbroken over Bella marrying Edward. He's been invited to Volterra to see his beloved cousin marry Caius Volturi. What he finds there will change his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"Just go to your cousin's wedding, Jake. Get out of here for a while." Quil said as we ran patrol around the reservation.

"Yeah, man, you need to get your mind off things. Your pitiful internal monolog is giving me a headache." Paul huffed.

"Paul!" we heard Sam's alpha tenor vibrate in each of our minds. "You and Quil phase and tell Emily that I will be home in an hour."

I felt a shake within my mind, the sure sign that they had returned to their human form.

"Jacob, let's talk." Sam said with enough command to make me obey.

"Oh great, another lecture. Spare me, okay?" I grouched.

"Jacob, I know I'm stating the obvious here, but things are through with Bella. She is with Edward. She has made her choice."

A low growl rumbled through my chest. "I know that, alright. But forgive me if I can't just let this roll of my back. I love her, Sam."

"I know, but that chapter in your life is over. You have to take steps to free yourself of your grief. That's why I am commanding you to go to your cousin's wedding."

"What? You can't…." My protests were cut off by a sharp warning from Sam.

"Jacob, you need to get your mind back into reality. You have a commitment to this pack, and though I am the Alpha, my power goes only so far."

"Sam, I forfeited my right to be Alpha. You have all the authority." I rolled my eyes.

Sam raised his voice. "Can't you feel the shift, Jacob? As you get older, your wolf gets stronger. It won't be long until your wolf commands his place as Alpha."

I wanted to disagree, but I couldn't. With each phase I felt my need to lead grow stronger. I had no idea how to run a pack, I really didn't want to, but my birth right demanded it.

"Jacob, I want you to go to Crystal's wedding and when you return, I will pass the Alpha to you. After that, I will stop phasing."

I was floored. "Stop phasing? Sam, have you lost your freaking mind? You're giving up your wolf?"

He exhaled loudly. "Not giving it up, Jake, I just want to stop for a while. If there's trouble, I'll be the first at your side, but I want to spend time with Emily. She feels terrible with what happened with Leah. As much as Emily loves me, she wonders if it's only because of the imprinting. I want to prove to her that she loves me without the pull. I want to ease her mind. I just hope that Leah imprints soon. That will hopefully end Emily's grief."

Imprinting was a filthy dictator. It took a man and woman's decision away from them then brainwashes them into believing they are unbelievably happy. Sam, Emily and Leah would have had none of this trouble if imprinting didn't exist. Some of the pack hoped that they would be "blessed" with the gift of having an imprint, but they were nuts. I hoped to hell it doesn't happen to me. I'd rather be a single man for the rest of my life than have my choice taken from me.

I knew that Sam was right. I had let my hurt and anger over Bella cloud my mind so much that I had lost sight of the importance of everything else.

"Besides, Jake, it's your favorite cousin, Crystal. You haven't seen her since your transformation. She misses you." Sam tried to lighten the conversation.

"But there we are again, a perfectly good mortal girl falls in love with a bloodsucking leech. What is it with these girls now? They seem to get off on cold skin and death.

"I don't think that applies to Crystal now that she has cold skin and is dead." Sam interrupted.

"Don't remind me, Sam."

"The bottom line is this, you need to get away for a while to clear your head. Crystal has sent you a plane ticket to go be her 'Dude of Honor' as she puts it." Sam chuckled.

I remembered my conversation with her a week before.

"So will you do it, Jake?" I would never get used to her voice. It was high and musical, like some sort of angel. It freaked me out!

"Dude of Honor, huh? I dunno, Lala." (I had called her Lala every since I was a baby.)

"Come on! Take a vacation. I'm sure Sam and the pack can more than make up for your time away."

"Some vacation. Leave a bunch of leeches to go mingle with more leeches."

She didn't speak. I hadn't thought about my words before I said them.

"Lala, I'm sorry. I guess I forgot for a moment that you are a lee…not human anymore."

"That's alright, Jake." she said…no, sang…whatever the hell she does, that's what she told me. "I know what happened with Bella and it really sucks." she paused, then giggled. "Sucks…get it? Because I'm a vampire? Eh?"

I had to laugh.

"Seriously, I do think here would be the perfect place to get away. Here is the one place in the free world that you can guarantee you will not see that tramp, Bella, or the Cullen's. Edward and Bella will want to stay as far as they can away from the Volturi." she said.

"Why is that? Don't you bloodsuckers share happy occasions together?" I asked.

"Well, sort of, but the Cullen's will not be invited to our wedding. You know how no one can stand Uncle Rick in our family because he's a nasty jerk?"

"Yeah."

"Well the Cullen's are the vampire world's Uncle Rick!" she said with mock horror.

I had to laugh at that.

"Please, Jake, come be with me. You're my best friend and the only link to my human family." she pleaded.

"Speaking of mortals, will I be the only one there who has blood in their veins?"

She giggled. "No. My friend Stephanie is here. She is…well, I'll let you see what she is when you get here."

"So how did she learn about the supernatural? You mean your 'family' didn't drain her dry for finding out about the secret?" I asked.

"They wouldn't dare! Remember, I am marrying one of the three kings of the vampire world, which makes me the queen. I have demanded that my guests be kept safe or "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" she laughed. "Okay, Jake, I am going to leave you to decide if you are coming. I will be waiting at 10:30 on Friday at the airport in Florence. I will look rather stupid standing around looking for someone who isn't there. I warn you, a queen hates looking stupid."

"Queen or no queen, mortal or immortal, you're still stupid, Lala." I chuckled.

"And you are a revolting hairy ass wolf, but I love you anyway. I will see you Friday."

Maybe a vacation was what I needed, though playing nice with a bunch of leeches was not my idea of a good time. Still, I needed to get away from the rez and far away from Forks. Everything reminded me of her…Bella. The garage, the woods, my home, everywhere held a memory of her. If I was going to move on, it would have to be somewhere new. So, deciding to listen to Sam and Lala, I made up my mind.

I was going to Volterra, Italy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The plane ride to Italy wasn't as bad as I thought. After a ten hour shift patrolling, I had slept through most of the trip. The place was nothing like Washington and most definitely nothing like Forks. I looked out the window as the plane was landing, and saw old stone buildings and churches. It was cool if you like that sort of stuff.

When I got off the plane and into the airport, I looked around for Lala. I figured she would look nothing like herself. She'd be all pale and cold, but she was my cousin and I loved her even if she was the walking dead.

"Jake!" I heard her say from my right side.

She ran to me and jumped into my arms. When she pulled back so she could kiss my cheek, I couldn't help but gasp. Her eyes were the first thing I noticed. They were bright red and ultra creepy.

"Damn, Lala! You look like a freak show." I winced.

"The eyes, I know. Their quite gruesome, aren't they. Since I'm a newborn, there going to stay like this for a while." she smiled.

I looked over her face. Her skin was very pale, but flawless. Her features were more defined, but I could still see 'my Lala.'

A very tall man came from behind us. Lala turned and smiled up at him.

"Jacob, this is Felix. He is one of the members of our senior guard. He also looks after me, especially if I travel."

We nodded at one another and I shook his hand. I tried not to flinch when touching his ice cold skin.

"We had better go, my lady. We wouldn't want Master Caius to send a search party." Felix chuckled.

We grabbed my bags from the baggage claim then followed Felix outside. Not ten steps from the door, a limo was parked. Another vampire was there holding open the door.

"Thank you, Alec." Lala smiled. "Jacob, this is Alec. He is another senior member of our guard. He drives my get away car when I have to get out of the castle for a while."

"Who has a get away limo?" I huffed.

"Queen Crystal does, though she prefers her sports cars." Alec laughed.

I slid into the car beside her. "Cars? Do you need more than one?"

She laughed. "No, I don't, but my crazy adopted father thinks that I do."

I wasn't sure of how long we had been driving because Lala drilled me on things that she had missed since she moved to Italy. I had to give her an update on who had made the transformation to the pack and who had imprinted. She spent a good bit of the trip talking about 'brainless, whiny, she-devil Bella, who doesn't have a backbone.' No one would have ever guessed by her rant that Bella used to be her closest friend, second only to me.

"I'm excited for you to meet my friend, Stephanie." she said brightly, almost too brightly.

"Why don't I already know her?" I asked. Before Lala moved to Italy we were nearly inseparable. We had the same friends and hung out at the same places.

"Because I met her not long after I moved here. She was on a trip to Volterra with her college friends and she took a wrong turn while touring the castle. I found her just in time to save her from being lunch, if you know what I mean. We became fast friends and after her college group left, she stayed behind with me and helped me plan the wedding, well, the little planning I was able to. She will be my Diva of Honor."

"So where is the Diva now?" I asked.

"I left her down in the theatre with Aro watching 'Yellow Submarine.'"

"My favorite movie. I should have caught an earlier flight so I wouldn't have missed it." I said.

"Don't worry, it's Aro's favorite movie as well. Once he finds out that you're a fan, he'll drag you down there to watch it with him."

Lucky me.

We passed through the narrow city streets of Volterra, then disappeared to an underground garage. When I stepped out of the limo, I nearly choked. Parked along the walls were ten of the most beautiful and expensive cars I had ever seen. Cars like those were only in magazines. Also, there were five dirt bikes and four motorcycles.

Alec stood beside me as I nearly drooled. "You Volturi know how to travel."

He laughed and clasped my shoulder. "Queen Crystal knows how to travel. This is her garage. The three kings have their own garages and the senior guard have one we share."

"Do you like everything, Jake?" Crystal took my hand.

"Uh huh. But why do you have dirt bikes and motorcycles?"

"Because I didn't know which kind you would like so Caius told me to get them all so you can pick." she said aloof.

"Lala, don't play with me."

She looked at me with her demonic eyes and raised her brows. "I'm not! Caius and I want both you and Stephanie's stay here to be as enjoyable as possible. The land here is beautiful and since the Volturi own most of it, I thought you'd like to go for a ride while you're here. Caius and I ride our dirt bikes about every day."

"You can take a vampire out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the vampire." I said rolling my eyes.

She laughed that weird musical laugh. "And if you're super sweet, Jake, I may even let you take a few home." she said, then led me through two large double doors into the castle, Felix and Alec following us with my bags.

We walked down a long hall that was decorated with ultra fancy paintings and marble floors; pretty cool if you like that sort of thing.

The hall ended into a massive room. I damn near pissed my pants! It was at least five stories tall with a gigantic crystal chandelier hanging from the domed ceiling. It sort of reminded me of Daddy Warbuck's house in Annie, but twice the size and more fancy.

"Pretty swanky, huh?" Lala said with a wink.

"A little bit." I mumbled.

A gruff voice called from the back of the room. "Crystal, I see you have brought your guest."

The guy had long wavy brown hair with paper thin pale skin and weird red eyes. He looked like someone killed his puppy, or maybe he was constipated. Either way, the guy was in agony.

Lala went to the man and hugged him. "Yes. Jacob, this is Marcus. He rules with Caius and Aro."

"And you, my sweet." he said.

"Yeah, me too." she said. She looked a little embarrassed.

"I am off to my office, my dear. You will find Caius waiting for you in the throne room. Aro, and the lovely Stephanie, are there as well. Aro is enjoying making her laugh talking like the Blue Meanie."

Marcus kissed Lala's hand, then disappeared. For his slow as a snail personality, it was almost scary that he could move at vampire speed.

Lala led me through the gigantic room, then opened another set of double doors. The room was domed like the first with marble walls and floor. There were ten vampires standing on both sides of the room. Alec and Felix were among them. At the front of the room were four thrones. Two men and a woman occupied them. The guy on my right side stood up when we entered. He was tall, with snowy white hair that touched his shoulders and matched his white skin. His lips were turned into a scowl and his eyes scanned the room menacingly. I then noticed something odd about him, different from every other vampire here. His eyes were gold like the Cullen's.

That didn't change anything. The dude was as creepy as hell.

"Leave." the guy growled with a deep sinister voice.

Instantly, the ten were gone. The guy's face suddenly softened and looked half way friendly. Notice I said "half way".

"Crystal, my love, you're home." he said to Lala. He pulled her to him then kissed her a bit more passionately than I would have cared to see.

When they finally broke it up, Lala grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.

"Jake, this is Caius."

Caius smiled and held out his hand for me to shake.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Jacob. Crystal speaks so highly of you." he then turned to Lala and brushed a finger across her cheek. "She has missed you very much. I am grateful that your visit has brought the sparkle back to my angel's eyes."

"I'm glad I've made her happy." I said, shaking his hand. I tried my best not to flinch at the touch of his icy hand.

The dude looked at Lala like she was some sort of goddess. I guess that's good, but I just hadn't seen someone THAT in love.

A loud laugh from behind Caius made me jump in surprise. "Caius, don't hold our guest only for yourself."

A guy walked quickly up to me and clapped his hands together with a look on his face like he had won the lottery.

Lala squeezed my hand. "Jacob, this is Aro, my adopted father."

Aro was also tall with black hair that was tied behind his back. He wore a black suit. The dude was weird. His red eyes sparkled like some deranged kid. He looked at Lala affectionately then turned to me.

"Jacob is here at last. Isn't that wonderful!" he said, then grabbed my hand.

I thought he was going to shake it, but instead he put his other hand on top of mine and closed his eyes. I looked at Lala who nodded in encouragement.

"Lala? How beautiful! You are quite fond of your Lala, are you not?" he beamed.

She giggled and laid her head on my shoulder. "Aro can read every thought you've ever had just by touching you."

"Then I guess I should apologize for my thoughts since I got here." I grumbled.

This guy would know I thought he was one wolf shy of a pack. He would know I was intimidated by Caius, the only man I have EVER been intimidated of. And he would know that I thought that Marcus creep should get laid. A skilled woman might loosen him up.

"No need, Jacob." he smiled disturbingly. Then he gasped and spun around. "My precious Stephanie, you must meet Jacob. Being that you two are…somewhat similar, you may have much to talk about." He held his hand out his hand for her to take. I first saw her hand slide delicately into his, then she stepped from behind him and raised her head so that her eyes met mine, then…I was reborn.

Every piece of my life shattered in an instant, but I wasn't left broken. This beautiful woman that stood before me held the pieces in her hands. She quickly rebuilt me back together around her. She became the center of my universe, the blinding warm sun that every other part of me rotated around. My body shuttered as it struggled to keep up with my rapid change. I suddenly could feel everything. My heart pounding, my blood coursing through my veins, my lungs expanding and deflating, all working for a new purpose, for a new person…Stephanie.

I studied her expression. Her eyes were wide with shock. Her cheeks flamed with emotion, desire or maybe embarrassment, I wasn't sure. Whatever the emotion, she was mesmerizing. Her lips parted slightly as her brows furrowed and her eyes searched my face. Then, she exhaled slowly. The sound sent me over the edge and I fell to my knees before her. Instantly, her soft hand reached down and nestled under my chin. She raised my face to look at her, then a smile began to play at the corners of her perfect red lips. She took my hands into hers and encouraged me to get up, though our eyes never left each other. Once I was standing before her, she took a hesitant step toward me then wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head over my pounding heart.

"I knew it." Lala whispered.

"Yes, love, you did." Caius chuckled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Come, my angel, I have a date with a very special part of your anatomy and I'd rather not be late." Caius said.

I DID NOT want to know what he was talking about.

He swept Lala up into his arms and they were gone in a flash. The sound of her giggles echoed through the castle.

"I fear I must go as well, my new friends. The rule breakers aren't going to burn themselves." Aro said with a sigh as if he hated the burden of the job.

That left Stephanie and I alone. She was still in my arms. She leaned up and smiled, "Let me show you to your room. It's beside mine."

God, she was gorgeous and her voice was as smooth as silk. My jeans suddenly felt very tight and uncomfortable in my crotch area.

Stephanie walked a few steps ahead of me, which allowed me to see her body. I watched the way she swayed as she walked. It was like something I had never seen before. Her grace was effortless. She was beautiful…and mine.

She glanced behind her at me and smiled. I nearly moaned. The way her eyes flashed with playfulness and her sly smile, she was beyond tantalizing.

"It seems we have a lot to talk about, don't you agree? Stephanie said.

I merely nodded. I was quite speechless. She had me hypnotized by her every move.

She opened a door at the end of a long hall on the third floor. The room was masculine with a black and gray comforter on the bed. The walls were light gray and the furniture was black. My bags were already in my room sitting beside a door that led to a balcony.

I was checking out my room when I felt a small hand weave into mine. My first thought was that she felt warm. No one felt warm to me. Stephanie stood in front of me and gazed into my eyes. Then her eyes flashed with another emotion. When I say flashed, I literally mean that her eyes changed. Her pupils elongated for just a second. It was totally freaky, but overwhelmingly erotic.

Damn, this girl was too much!

The next thing I knew, Stephanie crashed her lips to mine. She wound her fingers into my hair and pulled me closer. I was stunned but quickly recovered and I grabbed her hips and ground them against me. Stephanie was dominate, and though I usually felt like I should be in control, (it's an Alpha thing) I found myself bending to her will. She slipped her tongue across my bottom lip demanding entrance, and I gladly complied. She tasted exotic, like jasmine and something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was like citrus but nothing I had tasted before. Whatever it was, when the taste flooded my senses, I came undone. Though the bed was only feet away, I slid to the floor, taking Stephanie with me. I felt like a man that wandered the desert for days and she was the water I needed desperately. I felt her body rock beneath me trying to find friction against my arousal. I turned my hips slightly and she moaned loudly. The sound only spurred my need. I slipped my hand under her shirt and found her breasts. I palmed one over the fabric of her bra and pinched the tip, which caused her to moan louder. She raised my shirt a little and I felt her fingers tuck under the band of my jeans. She caressed the skin just above my arousal. I growled into her mouth. After a minute, I was done playing. I wanted the feel the skin of her breasts under my finger tips. I reached behind her and was about to rip her bra off when she flipped us over where she was on top. She straddled my hips and rested her core on my arousal. The slight pressure made me growl again and buck my hips. She leaned down and kissed me passionately, then sat up with a smile.

"Tell me, Jacob, do you always seduce women you've just met?"

That made me laugh. "You started it."

She stood up then reached down to help me up. When I stood, she wound her arms around my waist and kissed me softly.

Stephanie sat on the couch that was in a small sitting on the far left side of the room. She patted the cushion beside her.

"Come and sit with me, Jacob." she said.

I did what she said. Apparently she wasn't happy with the distance between us because she scooted closer to me and threw her leg over mine. This girl was forward. I loved forward.

I didn't know how to proceed with her. I mean, who falls to the floor in a fit of passion with someone they just met? But it felt right, so I guessed I'd just go with it.

"So…" I said. Yeah, I sounded like an idiot.

She took my hand into hers and rubbed circles on my palm with her thumb.

"Jacob, I sense that you are freaking out about what to say to me. I hate awkward moments so I will come on out and say it. I know that you imprinted on me." she said in a matter of fact tone.

Yeah, this girl is sexy and bold. Wait…what?

"H…how do you know about imprinting?" I stuttered like a fool. "Did La…I mean, Crystal tell you about me?"

Stephanie smiled, which did crazy things to my body. I felt like an electrical current shot down my spine.

"No, she didn't, but I know what you are. You're a shape-shifter, though I don't know the form you take."

"A wolf…wait, how do you know that?" I was dumb struck. This girl was freaking me out.

"Can't you feel me?" No, but I'd like to again. "Come on, Jacob, use your senses. The way you can feel a vampire's presence. Surely you can know when another supernatural being is near, especially when they are more similar to yourself."

I hadn't used my senses since I had gotten there. I knew all I would feel was those damn leeches, so why torture myself further. When I did tap into them, I could sense something from inside her. It was very much like what I felt when I was near one of my pack mates, but something was off. She was feminine and sultry, but nothing like Leah. Stephanie was like a goddess.

"You are a shape shifter, aren't you?" I asked.

Stephanie smiled again. "Yep!"

"Then what's your form?"

She raised her eyebrows and smiled slyly. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." she said with a seductive tone.

Holy shit, this woman was going to be the death of me.

Stephanie took my hand and led me out of my room, then down the stairs and out a large black door. I squinted when the sun shown brightly in my eyes. After I adjusted, I saw a large lawn. The grass was greener than any in Forks and there were tall trees in the back with leaves the same color as the grass. We stood on a massive deck. It was sand colored stone and very fancy with a large staircase.

Stephanie led me out into the lawn then turned to me.

"You first." she said.

I didn't want to phase in front of her. Once my clothes ripped off me, I would have to walk naked back into the castle to get more clothes. I quickly ran into the trees and stripped. I let the fire overcome me and shook into my wolf form. I stepped out of the trees and saw Stephanie where I left her. Her eyes grew big and she smiled brightly. She walked slowly to me, then reached out to place her hand right under my ear. I couldn't help but close my eyes and lean into her touch. She stroked the fur from my ear to the corner of my mouth. Then I saw a flash of mischief in her eyes. She walked to my side, running her fingers through my hair along my sides. The warmth of her finger tips seemed to soak through my skin and into my bones. A low growl rumbled through my chest. She continued to stalk around me. I felt weak like she was a predator ready to devour me. She trailed her fingers along the fur above my tail, then allowed her hand to dip along my side to my stomach. I shuddered under her touch. It was the most erotic feeling I had ever experience. The heightened senses of my wolf form made the experience twice as amazing. If I had been in my human form, there was no way I could have stopped myself from having her right there on the lawn and I wouldn't have cared if anyone saw us.

She reappeared before me. She looked into my eyes, then leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose.

The suspense was killing me. What was she? I gave her a sharp bark and growl.

"Okay, I'm going." she said like a child being reprimanded. She stood about ten feet from me then took her top off. I couldn't help but gasp.

She looked up at me and smirked. "What? I'm your imprint. It's only a matter of time before you see me naked. There's no need for me to be modest." She winked at me.

I watched as she undressed before me. She was beautiful. My eyes looked upon her naked body hungrily. Her shoulder length blonde hair provided a curtain over the side of her face as she bent over to pull her pants and panties off. Her skin was flawless. The sight of her curves sent a wave of warmth through my body. She was indeed a goddess and she was MINE.

She stood and just as my body shook when I transformed, hers did the same. Her body blurred then transformed. Taking her place as a human was a sleek black panther. My god. Her coat was sleek and shined under the sunlight. I wouldn't have guessed the cat was her, but I saw her familiar mischievous eyes. She stalked toward me. Her movements were fluid. I watched as her shoulder blades moved under her skin. My god. She was shorter than me but she looked just as strong. She stood before me, then licked her lips. My god. She then leaned in and nuzzled her head against me. I heard a purr coming from her chest.

"I thought dogs and cats were suppose to be enemies." Lala laughed behind me.

I turned to see her walking hand in hand with Caius. Though I smelled evidence of soap on them, the hint of sex still made my nose crinkle.

"And I thought shape shifters and vampires were suppose to be enemies, yet here we are." I thought.

"Yep, here we are." Lala smiled.

"Holy shit, Lala! You can hear me?" I screamed in my thoughts.

Lala closed her eyes and smiled. "Holy shit, Jacob, I sure can." she said, but not with her mouth, like I could hear into her mind.

"No, stupid, you can't hear my thoughts, I can project my voice into yours. If you could read my thoughts, you would know that Caius has the biggest and most delicious co…"

"SHUT UP, LALA!" I yelled, you know, in my thoughts. But I also growled and barked for everyone else to hear.

Lala giggled.

Caius smiled, "So you are showing Jacob your power, huh?"

"Yes, and I can't say he likes it much." she laughed.

I rolled my eyes which I hoped looked as pissed as I was.

Lala turned to Stephanie and looked at her intently. She smiled then looked at me again.

"It sounds like the wolf and the panther had a very good time earlier." Lala told Caius.

"As if you didn't know that already." Caius laughed.

"What?" I yelled, in my thoughts of course.

Apparently Stephanie said the same thing because Lala looked to us both and laughed.

"Vampire hearing." she said like we should have known.

Caius' face turned serious and caressed the skin under Lala's creepy eyes. "You're thirsty, my love."

Then he turned to Stephanie and I. "We were about to hunt. Would you like to join us?"

I nearly puked at the thought of "hunting" with them.

"Yeah, I thought we'd make a good team. We could have the blood and the rest is yours." Lala said with a smile.

There it went, I puked in my mouth a little bit. How could she think that I would want to hunt with them? Killing animals when I ate in wolf form was one thing, but hunting "leech style" was disgusting.

I nearly jumped out of my fur when Lala not only laughed in my head, but was laughing in my ears as well. "Oh, Jacob, you are ridiculous! Do you think we would invite you to massacre the town? We don't feed from humans. That's why Caius' eyes are golden."

"Would you stay out of my head, Lala?" I grouched.

"Oh, put away your claws, wolf boy. How else are you going to talk to me when you're wolfie? Oh, wait! Is there a new puppy sign language that I am not familiar with?" Lala said aloud.

Caius and Stephanie looked at us confused. I guess to them it might have appeared we were fighting, that is until we laughed. Hearing a laughing wolf is a sound to behold. You'd never forget it.

"So, are you two beasts hunting with us?" Lala asked with a grin.

Stephanie and I looked at one another, then nodded.

"There is a forest not far from here. Crystal and I will lead the way." Caius said, then took Lala's hand in his and kissed it, then disappeared.

Stephanie and I shot after them. I, at first, wondered if Stephanie would be able to keep up with us. I mean, what the hell do I know about supernatural panthers? I should have known that better. My imprint was good at everything else, so why wouldn't she be an awesome runner? That led me to thinking of what else she would be good at, like massages and making love and licking my…

"Shut it, Jake!" Lala shouted from ahead of me.

"I'll bet she's fantastic at cooking. I'm sure she makes really good cookies." I thought, making my thoughts more G rated. "Yes, I would bake cookies with her. She would mix the dough…then lick the spoon…then I would smear dough across her supple breasts and lick it off….and she would fall to her knees and lick my…"

"I SAID SHUT UP, JACOB!" Lala growled.

"What is it?" Caius asked.

"Jacob is contemplating the many things he and Stephanie could do with cookie dough." Lala said.

Stephanie's strides faltered at the thought.

Caius laughed. "Ah, yes, that is fun. Remember the time when you were human and wanted chocolate chip cookies? I threw you on top of the counter and placed my head between you thighs. I was the one who got the sweet treat that night, but I was sorry that your cookies burned."

"Who needs to shut up now?" I thought, making Lala laugh.

We ran in silence another several miles, then I heard a new heartbeat. It was very strong. We all turned to the sound, then stalked ahead. We reached a small ledge of a hill in the woods. Looking down, we saw a very large bear. He looked very agitated. I guessed he hadn't ate in a while.

"Our guests get to eat first." Caius whispered.

I looked at Stephanie. I was freaking out at the thought of her fighting such a big animal, but I also didn't want to be impolite and eat before her.

"Jacob says ladies first." Lala whispered.

I shot her a menacing look. I sure as hell didn't say that.

Stephanie crouched into a hunting stance, then crept toward the bear. I wanted more than anything to pull her back, but Lala gave me a encouraging smile. When Stephanie reached the edge, I saw her muscles contract then she leapt from the ledge, landing on the bear's back. It started thrashing all around as Stephanie sank her teeth into it's neck. The bear swiped at her and threw her from his back and onto the ground. Stephanie let out an irate hiss, then jumped at the bear again. This time she caught it by his side and ripped a chunk of furry flesh away. The bear roared in pain and anger. She flipped off the bear and landed behind him. Determination and hunger flared in her eyes, and I knew it was all over for the bear. Stephanie crouched again then sprang on the bear's back again. This time she sank her teeth into the side of his neck. I heard a loud snapping noise and the bear fell dead on the ground. Stephanie looked at me and hissed.

"She says dinner is served, Jake. She wants you to go eat with her." Lala said.

I had to mentally shake myself out of my shock. I just saw my imprint take down a bear three times her size. I had watched the wolves take down prey before, but nothing like Stephanie. She was smooth. Every movement was sensual and effortless.

"Crystal and I will hunt a few miles down. Enjoy your dinner." Caius said, then he and Lala ran out of sight.

We ate in silence. Well, we had to given neither of us could talk. Occasionally she would look at me wanting. Believe me, I wanted her, too. With every look she gave me, I felt the fire in the pit of my stomach grow hotter.

It wasn't long before we had finished off the bear. Stephanie looked satisfied laying on her side and licking her paws clean. Damn, that girl was sexy licking her paws! She caught me looking at her and she stood before me. Her feline body shook until she stood before me human…and naked.

"Want to play, Jake?" she said seductively.

A growl rumbled in my chest. I most definitely wanted to play.

"Then you'd better man up." she said, then turned to walk away from me.

My body shook into my human form…my naked human form. She had only gotten a few steps away when I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me.

"That's better." she grinned, then for the second time, she crashed her lips to mine.

I wanted our first time to be romantic and sensual, but that all went out the window when I threw her against a tree. We had just phased to human so the needs of our animal forms were still dominate in our minds. I fought to stay in control, but when Stephanie hissed wildly, then grabbed me and wound her legs around my waist, all reason left me. I grabbed her hips and pushed myself inside her roughly. She threw back her head and moaned my name. She slid her fingers in my hair and pulled my head to the side, giving her access to my neck. She kissed, sucked, and bit it furiously. My thrusts became stronger and faster. She dug her nails into my back which heightened my pleasure. I moaned her name loudly, making her hiss. I grabbed the back of her head and put my forehead on hers.

"Look at me. I want to see your release." I growled.

I wrapped my arms around her and grabbed her shoulders from the back. I pushed myself harder and deeper inside her. She screamed wildly and pulled my hair. Her face was glowing with sweat and her breathing quickened when I felt her walls tighten around me. I grabbed her hip with one hand and pushed my thumb inside her folds and massaged her most sensitive spot, sending her over the edge. Her body thrashed as her release overtook her body. I held her tightly to me, enjoying the feel of her writhing body against mine. She kept repeating my name over and over again between her screams and moans.

When I felt her walls relax around my arousal, she laid her head on my shoulder and tried to catch her breath. After a minute, I felt her walls tighten around me again. She raised her head from my shoulder and said with a sly smile, "Your turn."

She pushed herself off the tree and pulled us to the ground, my arousal still deep inside her. She straddled my hips and began rocking back and fourth, up and down my erection. She dug her nails up and down my chest causing me to moan her name.

She leaned down and kissed me passionately. She took my hands and placed them on her hips. She looked at me devilishly.

"Hold on, Jacob. You're in for a wild ride." she smirked.

She picked up her pace rocking against me making me growl. With each stroke I felt her walls contract in a unbelievable rhythm. She looked down at me knowing I loved it. She leaned down and peppered my abs and chest with open mouthed kisses. She brushed my chest with her lips and tongue making me shiver with pleasure. Then she raised again and smiled.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

How could she do more to me? This woman was sending me over the edge of reason. What more could there be?

She leaned in and flicked my ear with her tongue. "I said, are you ready?" she whispered in my ear. Her breath on my ear and neck made me shiver again, then buck my hips against her core. I couldn't form coherent words so I answered with a moan.

She grinned then raised up. She took my hands from her hips and placed them on her breasts. That alone made me shake with pleasure. She slowly slid her knees from my sides, pushing me deeper inside her. Her eyes rolled back and she hissed my name. I reacted by bucking my hips fast and hard. Her breath caught. My little vixen was about to climax again. I wasn't going to miss my opportunity to pleasure her, so I rolled the tip of her breast between my fingers. She growled uninhibited. She rocked against me faster then slipped her hand under her and clasped my arousal. She began pulsing her hand against me in rhythm with the contractions of her wall. Dear god, I lost it. I never knew there was pleasure as unbelievable as this. I yelled, growled, cursed and beat the ground with my fists, anything to free the overwhelming release that rocked my body. I barely registered that Stephanie was riding out another climax. When we both came down from our high, she slumped her body against mine.

"Jacob, I sort of left out something about myself earlier." she raised up and looked deep in my eyes. "I imprinted on you as well."

Oh my god. I hadn't thought it would be possible. To have one person imprint on another was mind boggling, but to have two people imprint on each other. That was earth shattering.

"So I guess our need for each other, our desires, our love, everything is doubled."

I knew she was right. My pack mates who had imprinted felt overwhelming love for their imprints, but nothing as intense as what I felt for Stephanie. I had only just met her, but already she was my life, my whole heart, my existence.

"And despite the fact that we have just met, our double imprint sort of throws out all rational ways for two people to meet and fall in love." she said.

"Yes, it does." I said. Then I stood up and helped her to her feet. I lifted her chin with my finger. "I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman."

Stephanie smiled, "And I love you with a love that has never been matched."

I pressed my lips to hers gently.

The sound of wood splitting shook us back into reality. I listened carefully to hear Lala panting.

"Caius…mmmm…harder…HARDER!"

Caius roared Lala's name, then another tree fell.

Gross.

"So I guess they're going to be a while. How about you and me head back to the castle?" I asked.

"And miss this time alone? Oh hell no!" Stephanie growled and pushed me back to the wood's floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Stephanie and I had just phased when Caius and Lala met us.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I need a shower." Lala smiled happily.

"Yeah, wonder why?" I thought.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

We ran quickly back to the castle as the sun was just going down over Volterra. We parted ways with Lala and Caius to shower, but we planned to meet them in their room when we finished. I felt pretty weird walking through the castle in my wolf form. When I finally phased in my room, I fought the urge to join Stephanie in her shower, but since we were meeting Mr. and Mrs. Leech later, I thought better of it.

I showered quickly and dressed in a white button down shirt and jeans. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Stephanie was lounging lazily on my bed. She smiled brightly at me then jumped up and pulled me in for a kiss.

"Are you ready?" she asked. I nodded.

It was a habit of mine to find things by smell and since we didn't know where Lala's room was, I inhaled deeply to catch her scent. I nearly gagged.

"Is something wrong?" Stephanie asked.

"It's the stench. How can you stand it?"

She looked confused. "What stench? I don't smell anything unusual."

"Doesn't vampires smell revolting to you?" I asked stunned.

"No, not at all. Each have their own unique scent, but none of them smell bad. Well, at least not here anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My panther senses are different from yours. I read smells as they truly are, except for enemies. That's how I can defend myself."

"I don't get it." I said, confused again.

"Okay, say I am standing beside you, Caius and Crystal. Each of you smell wonderful to me, but what if someone new joins us? I can instantly read if they have good or bad intentions by their scent. I can smell the hate in them, or their need to destroy any of us."

"Wow." I said, unable to form any other words.

"It really comes in handy, as I know your abilities are helpful to you, though I don't understand a lot about them. I know that you can smell vampires, but you don't distinguish good vampires from the bad. Though more often than not a vampire coming into your territory is bad and they should be destroyed, but what happens if someone like Crystal comes onto your land? Wouldn't it be terrible to destroy her without knowing if she's good or evil?"

I was floored. "I guess I've never thought about it like that before."

Stephanie's face lit up. "I smell Crystal." She took my hand and led me to a large cherry wood door.

"What does Lala smell like to you?" I wondered.

"Strawberries. Fresh strawberries right from the vine. I think it fits her personality, don't you?" she smiled.

I nodded. "What about Caius?"

"His scent matches his personality, too. His smells smooth like chocolate, but has a kick of cinnamon that nearly overpowers the chocolate. As he falls further in love with Crystal, I can smell more and more of the chocolate."

I grinned. "And me? What do I smell like?"

I was surprised when a purr escaped her throat. She nestled her face in my neck and inhaled deeply. "Sexual. Woodsy and rustic, but with a cologne scent that makes every nerve in my body cry out for your touch." she said, placing a kiss on my neck.

"Come in." Lala called from inside the door. We hadn't knocked, but with her vampire hearing, she knew we were there. Damn the vampire hearing. I sure could have used a few more minutes with Stephanie.

I kissed Stephanie gently, then pulled open the door. Lala and Caius sat in a large overstuffed chair. She sat between Caius' legs and had her back resting against his chest. They had their hands in front of them, intertwining their fingers as they talked.

I took Stephanie's hand and led her to a couch that sat across from Lala and Caius. Their room was more like an apartment. We sat in the huge living area. It was decorated more like a cottage than a castle. It was comfortable and cozy. I could see Lala's hand in every detail. I saw their bedroom from an open door to my right. A bathroom was behind a door to my left.

I sat in the middle of the couch and Stephanie sat beside me but threw her legs over me like she had earlier.

"So, has Aro let you in on your wedding plans yet?" Stephanie asked.

"No, not in the least. Once I picked out our dresses and Jake's tux, that was it. Caius keeps telling me that Aro has fantastic taste and will make everything beautiful, but what does a three thousand year old vampire know about planning a wedding?"

Caius smoothed her furrowed brows and kissed her temple. "You'd be surprised what us three thousand year old vampires know." he laughed.

I choked. "Three thousand years? Dude, you're three thousand years old?"

Caius laughed. "Give or take a few years."

The guy looked as young as I was. I couldn't put my head around it, so I let it slide off my back and pretend I didn't know the dude was older than…everything.

"So how did you two meet? I mean, I was there when you and Bella left with that female bloodsucker, but you didn't come back when they did. I tried to get Bella to tell me where you were but she kept saying that it didn't matter and go on with my life because I'd never see you again."

"Stupid disgusting mortal! What the hell does she know? She was talking to you out of her ass because here I am! Lala spat. "Yeah, and if you remember I didn't want to go with her but she was being all whiney about it. 'I have to save Edward, he's my soul mate. I can't live in a world where he doesn't exist. You have to come with me, Crystal, because I'm scared'" Lala said, doing a pretty good impression of Bella. Then her face turned into a sneer. "Well the little two timing vermin better be scared. If she even comes near Volterra, I will rip her throat out! Can you believe she turned her back on you because her overbearing, arrogant, pompous jerk face ex got himself in a load of trouble? Can you believe that she would be so quick to take him back despite what he did to her? That stupid girl is the most worthless piece of nothing that has ever existed! She broke your heart Jacob, and when I see her again, I will break her bones and dance on her face! She will learn that this world does not revolve around her. She will understand that she can't toy with whoever she wants."

Caius chuckled and caressed Lala's cheek. "Calm down, little one." then he smiled at us. "She's still a newborn. Things that may have made her mad in her human life, they now infuriate her into a rage."

She exhaled, then continued. "Anyway, so we get here and she jumps out of the car and runs all over the city looking for the clock tower. If she wouldn't have been such a blubbering idiot, I would have helped her. Anyway, she sees Edward and runs through the fountain to get to him. What was the sense in that? She could have just ran around the fountain, but she had to be theatrical about the whole damn thing." Lala ranted.

"Alright, we get it. You get to Volterra, Bella was stupid, then what?" I asked evenly.

"Bella disappears with Edward inside the clock tower. It wasn't long before I saw Alice step inside, so I followed her. We were led into the castle by Felix, Demetri and Jane. Bella was holding on to Edward like a deranged lunatic. The passage to the castle was really dark, and I probably would have been scared, too, if I wasn't so pissed at Bella for getting me in the mess. Finally, we get to the throne room. I hid behind Edward and Alice. I thought if I just blended in, no one would notice me and I would make it out alive. But I didn't go unnoticed." Lala smiled and kissed Caius softly.

Caius chuckled. "I didn't notice her at first. I could hear another heartbeat, but I couldn't see her. Aro was carrying on with his dramatics while I sat furious. I didn't know why we couldn't have just killed the three of them and rid us of their ignorance forever. Truthfully, I would still prefer that option. Then a fight broke out between Edward and Felix. In the middle of the chaos, I looked over to see Crystal standing against the wall looking as enraged as I was. She must have felt my eyes on her because she looked up at me, her anger reading plainly on her face. When our eyes met, I became an new creature." he said, looking lovingly at Lala. "Crystal has told me about imprinting and how she felt that you would possibly imprint on Stephanie since you two are so much alike. Well, us vampires have our own way of imprinting, though we call it mating. It is extremely rare. Only one other vampire has mated in my three thousand years of existence, so you would imagine my surprise when I realized that this human girl was my mate." Caius laughed. "Then, let's just say that three people in the room was not very happy about Crystal and I mating."

Lala sat up furious again. "When Caius stepped down from his throne and took me into his arms, Edward and Alice went crazy. They demanded Caius let me go and was threatening him. Bella ran to me and tried to pull me out of Caius' arms. He growled at her making her fall backwards with fear. She kept saying, 'you can't stay here. He's a monster. You are out of your mind to stay here. He will never love you like Edward loves me.'" Crystal said like Bella. "So that's when I got extremely angry. I told her that I hoped like hell that Caius didn't love me like Edward loved her. She got all defensive and saying that he left to protect her and he wants her to have human experiences. I told her that love to me was being changed so that I would never have to be left alone AND be able to enjoy experiences a whole new way with being a vampire. That shut her up and they left, but not before she said our friendship was over and she hoped I rotted in hell with Caius."

Caius laughed again, "You left out a part."

Lala smiled. "Oh, I told her she would rot in Forks as a virgin. I told her that her "private area", I won't use the word that I used at that time, would be as dry and empty as the Sahara with Edward as her man. She would die old and bored with a shriveled, um…yeah, I used the same word.

Caius, Stephanie, and me laughed hysterically. A small part of me wondered why I wasn't angry at Lala for talking to Bella that way, but my answer was next to me, laying her head on my shoulder and laughing carelessly. I picked up Stephanie's hand and kissed it. She smiled brightly.

"And the rest is history. She was changed not long after coming here, then I proposed soon after that." Caius smiled.

We continued talking mostly about the wedding and how I would be walking with Stephanie down the isle and would stand beside Lala as she married Caius.

"Please don't go wolfie on me, Jacob. I know there will be a ungodly amount of vampires there, but please control yourself." Lala said, only half joking.

That made me wonder. "Stephanie, why is it that you don't phase at the presence of vampires? What makes you go all sexy beast?" I asked.

Stephanie laughed. "I told you that only evil people have a bad odor to me, and it's basically the same for my panther. When I sense danger, I phase. It could be danger from anything. Humans, vampires, wolves, children of the moon, anything. When evil comes against my people, we can attack ferociously and we always win…ALWAYS." she said and emphasized the last proudly.

"But why? What made you transform in the first place?" I asked.

"Well, like your ancestor Taha Aki, I also have ancestors that began the change. They were three sisters. Elizabeth, being the oldest at 15 years old, Jessica, the middle at 7 years old, and Kimberly was the youngest at age 4. They lived with their mom and dad in the mountains of Kentucky. They didn't have much, but they were thankful for what they had. One day the children were playing outside. Their mother was hanging clothes on the line and their father was sitting in his rocking chair on the porch. Five men appeared suddenly, as if they had transported themselves right onto the lawn. The girls ran to their mother who told them to hide. They ducked under the porch and Elizabeth peeked out. They saw their father arguing with the men, then one man grabbed him by the neck and squeezed until their dad fell limp onto the ground. The men walked into their house then they heard their mother scream. In her agony she begged the men to spare her children. She repeated, as if she knew that they would hear, over and over again that she loved them and would always watch over them. They heard their mother choke then she was silent. The girls heard the men walking around their home, then as quickly as they had come, they were gone. Elizabeth pulled her sisters from under the porch and led them away from the home. She couldn't let them see their parents dead. They walked through the rest of the day and into the night. They were hungry and tired and Kimberly was in hysterics screaming for her mother. The night was unseasonably cold and the three girls shivered in an abandoned barn they had found to rest in. While the other two finally slept, Elizabeth stayed awake worried about how to care for her siblings. Then she saw a bright light appear before her. She could hardly believe it when her mother stepped out of the light.

"Didn't I tell you I would be with you?" Elizabeth's mother said.

"But how?" she wondered.

Her mother just smiled.

"We're cold, mother." Elizabeth whimpered.

Her mother touched each one of them and they warmed immediately.

"How do I take care of them? How do I protect them from whatever is out there? What if those men come for us?" she cried.

Her mother's smile faded. "Never again will you be unprotected. Never will you be unable to defend yourselves."

A bright light formed over the three girls' heads then settled onto each. The other two girls awoke at the surge of energy flowing through them. Their mother smiled at them once again.

"From now until the end of time, our family will be protected. And every day of forever I will look after my children."

Weeks passed and they realized that they were never cold, even when snow began to fall. They were clever and always found food for themselves. Then one day, the 5 men found them. It was amazing that the girls had no fear. Kimberly was the first to transform. With a shake of her body, she transformed into a eagle. Jessica transformed into a massive bear. Elizabeth became a black panther. The men didn't stand a chance. Kimberly clawed them from the air while Elizabeth came at them from the ground. When the men were rendered powerless, Jessica finished them off with a slash of her claws and the power of her jaws.

As time passed, the three girls grew up, married humans, and had children. All of the female children in the many generations since then carried the protection. When evil came near, the girls were able to phase into their animals and protect their family."

Caius and I sat frozen. Lala smiled brightly. I guess she had already heard the story.

"S…So not everyone in your pack are panthers?" I asked.

"No, we each have our own animal. As of now, my protected, which is what we call our 'pack', has a bear, an owl, an eagle, a mountian lion, a cobra, and my panther. I know we aren't massive wolves like your pack, but we are all excellent fighters, so what most of us lack in size, we make up for it with speed, agility, and talent."

"Wait a minute, how do you know about Taha Aki?" I asked.

Stephanie smiled and kissed my nose. "Your pack is supernatural like my protected. We make it our business to learn about others like us. Though I was never able to go, a couple of my protected went to Forks to learn more about you. They were extremely lucky to listen in on one of your tribal meetings."

"That's impossible. We would have heard your pack, I mean protected, if any of them were there." I said defensively.

"Surprisingly, your pack is quite single minded when there is food near. You all have quite a feast during those meetings." Stephanie laughed.

Being the rightful alpha of my pack, I had to wonder. "Who is the alpha of your protected, or do you have an alpha?"

"Yes, we have an alpha, though we call her Dea. Dea is another name used for a goddess." she smiled.

"Then who's your Dea? Is it the bear or maybe the cobra?" I guessed.

Stephanie laughed then kissed me softly. "Dea is the most fearsome fighter, the kindest but most brutal. She leads with compassion but with an iron fist. Dea is strong willed, but you hold her heart in the palm of your hand."

"You're the Dea?" I asked stunned.

"No, it's the other protected that loves you more than her own life." She rolled her eyes.

I looked at her in awe. She was fascinating. Everything thing about her seeped with power and grace. She was sexy, strong willed, and…sexy. My need for her stirred in the pit of my stomach and I had to suppress a moan at the thought of her body against mine again.

I looked over at Lala and saw Caius squirming against her backside. He must be ready for another go at my precious Lala. This was ridiculous.

"What the hell is going on in this castle? Do you vamps spike your water with Viagra? Why are we all so horny ALL THE TIME?"

The three of them laughed. "No, but that is a pretty good idea." Caius said, then turned to Lala. "Could you imagine the senior guard aroused at the same time? What would Aro say?"

"He would say, 'An orgy in the middle of my throne room. Isn't that wonderful!" Lala laughed.

Caius kissed the top of her head, then looked at me. "It's the mating, well, in your case imprinting. Our body is in a constant need for each other. We could take our mates every minute of the day and never get tired. Believe me, I had Crystal a good ten days straight and…"

"OKAY!" I yelled. "I don't need to know more, dude!"

Caius chuckled. "The point is, you're always going to hunger for Stephanie. The need will overpower you, but it's all about priorities. Crystal and I are expected as King and future Queen to work for the betterment of our people. We have duties to fulfill, but as soon as we're done we come right back here and ravage one another. It never gets more manageable or easier for me to go without her. You're always going to thirst for Stephanie's body writhing beneath yours."

Wow. "Damn, Caius, you sure have a way with words, don't you?" I shook my head.

Lala laughed. "You have no idea."

Stephanie and I left their room about a half hour later. I turned to say goodbye just in time to see Lala turn around in their chair and straddled Caius' hips. He growled at her which made Lala giggle. I was pretty sure we wouldn't see them until morning.

Stephanie took my hand in hers and pulled me forward.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Her eyes flashed again showing her panther eyes for just a second. "To my room. Our first time together was wild and animalistic. I want to take my time with you now. I want to kiss and touch every inch of you. I want to feel you inside me. I want you to make me yours."

She didn't have to say anymore. I picked her up by her hips and pulled her legs around me. I kissed her slowly, letting her taste fill my senses. We didn't break our kiss until I sat her down by her bed. She crawled to the middle, then raised herself to her knees. She looked at me intensely, then held out her hand for me. I joined her, me on my knees before her. Her eyes searched mine for a moment, then let her gaze fall to my chest. I felt her hands travel up my stomach to my chest. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt, then slipped it off my shoulders and let it fall behind me. Her fingertips roamed the skin of my shoulders and chest. The muscles of my stomach tightened under her warm touch. I had to keep reminding myself to not let my nature take over and take her fast and hard. She wanted to take our time, and since I couldn't deny her, I kept my wolf on a leash.

She rested her palms on my chest then looked in my eyes again. I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Stephanie was beautiful and sexy and I had to have her. I would try to move as slowly as I could, but my wolf controlled just enough of me that I fought not to claim my imprint as my own.

I put my finger under her chin and pulled her lips up to mine. Our kiss was slow. I was hyper sensitive to how her lips moved against mine and how her tongue massaged mine. She slid her hands around my neck and pulled me to her and deepened our kiss. I wanted to feel her skin under my fingers so I slipped my hands under her shirt and pushed it over her head. I trailed kisses from her lips, to her neck, then down to her chest. I slowly made circles over the tip of her breast with my thumb. Stephanie arched her back and hissed quietly under my touch. I didn't want to move quicker than Stephanie wanted, but I had to get her bra off. Every nerve in my body tingled with the need for her bare chest against mine.

I put my finger under the shoulder strap, pulled it slowly, and let it fall down her arm. I kissed the skin where the strap had been. I did the same on the other shoulder. When I claimed her lips to mine again, I reached behind her to undo her bra, but before I could, she pulled away from me. I was afraid that I may have done something wrong, until she gazed into my eyes again and without looking away, she reached behind her and unfastened her bra and let it fall before her. Damn, that was the hottest thing I had ever seen. I looked upon her in awe. The woman was beyond beautiful. From her eyes staring lovingly at me, to her lips that parted slightly from her heavy breathing, down the soft skin of her neck and shoulders, to her perfect breasts.

I couldn't help but to think about my pack mates and friends who craved sex and gawked at women for their own pleasure. Hey, I was one of them, until Stephanie. She was breathtaking. She was my goddess and I wanted nothing more than to worship her. She made me feel as I never have before, made me think of things differently. Before her, words like breathtaking and goddess were never in my vocabulary. I was too much of a guy to let myself feel enough for a woman to use those words. But there, staring at the half naked body of my imprint, those words didn't begin to do her justice.

I felt another urge to take her, stronger than before. My muscles flexed from my need. I couldn't fight the low growl that rumbled through my chest. The sound must have fueled Stephanie's need because she moaned into my mouth. Her scent on my tongue was electrifying. (See, there's another new word.)

I pulled her into my arms and laid her gently on the bed, never breaking our kiss.

I laid to her side so that I would have full access to her body. As we kissed, I caressed the skin over her chest and down her sides. She shivered and moaned under my touch. I broke our kiss and let my lips trail from her jaw and down her neck. My fingers found the tip of her breast.

"Do you love me?" I whispered in her ear.

Before she could answer, I let my thumb glide over the tip.

"Y…Yes." She said panting.

I let my kisses travel further down her body. I took extra time making love to her breasts. I loved how Stephanie would arch her back and moan my name when I flicked my tongue against her tip or when I would take her inside my mouth.

I continued kissing downward until I reached her jeans. Those things had to go FAST, but being the attentive lover, I unbuttoned them gently and slid them off along with her panties.

Stephanie was naked…my god, she was gorgeous. My body clenched with my need. I started placing open mouthed kisses along her hips and down her outer thigh. When I reached her knees, I positioned myself below her and pulled her legs over my shoulders. I felt her quiver with anticipation. With every kiss or lick I trailed up her inner thigh, Stephanie's breath became more erratic. The faster she panted, the quicker I traveled back up her thigh.

When I reached the top, I looked up to see her reaction before I claimed her with my tongue. She glanced down and saw me staring at her with my lips dangerously close to her core.

"OH…MY…GOD!" Stephanie growled and threw her head back. I had to chuckle. Just the site of me so close to her most private area gave her pleasure.

I took my time and learned to love her there, what made her moan, what made her scream my name, and what made her legs weak.

I loved the feeling of her legs shaking against me as I massaged her most sensitive spot with my tongue. The amount of pleasure it gave her only ignited mine. It wasn't long before her release rocked her body. She grabbed my hair roughly and held me to her, as if I would dare move when I was giving her such satisfaction. She screamed my name over and over again between loud moans.

When she came down from her high, she released my hair and I looked at her. The way her chest heaved as she panted quickly was hypnotizing. I felt my arousal throb reminding me that I still had on my jeans.

"Come here, Jacob." Stephanie panted.

I moved my body up against hers, the hard tip of her breasts tickled my chest as my body slid up hers.

She grabbed my hair again and kissed me furiously. With one quick movement, she flipped us over and sat straddling my hips. I felt the heat from her core against my arousal and my hips bucked against her in response. Stephanie moaned and rocked against me. Apparently that was not satisfying to her because a second later I heard a loud rip of cloth. She had ripped my jeans and boxers away in one quick movement.

I gasped, then chuckled. "I thought we were suppose to be moving slow." I said.

"Oh, was that not slow? Sorry." Stephanie said with a sly grin.

She placed open mouthed kisses along my neck, chest and shoulders, all while moving her heat up and down my arousal without allowing me inside her. It was agonizing, but so damned hot. Her kisses were electric, sending jolts of heat through my skin with each touch of her lips. I moaned her name with every current. The sound of my moans seemed to spur her desire to please me. She slid down and rested herself between my legs. The look of desire in her eyes was more than I could take. I grabbed her hands to pull her back to me but she giggled.

"Not yet, my love." she smiled.

Her hair tickled my skin as she gently slid her tongue down the length of my arousal. I snarled her name which made her moan. She then swirled the end of my erection with the tip of her warm tongue, then took me inside her mouth. The feeling was unbelievable. It took all I had not to buck my hips against her. The feel of her lips against me was so warm and soft, then every few seconds she would suck against my tip making me growl. Her movements began to quicken and I felt my release coming fast.

I reached down and slid my hand under Stephanie's chin and pulled her to look at me.

"Let me feel you." I said in a strained voice.

She smiled seductively, then raised to straddle my hips once again. She slid me inside her slowly, making us both moan. She took my hands and placed them on her breasts then she laid her hands on my stomach. She rocked against me slowly, her rhythm seductive. I loved the feel of her walls clinching around me with the feeling of the smooth warm skin of her breasts in my hands. As she quickened her pace, I knew that I was closer to my release than she was. I yearned for us to climax together. I sat up and pulled her body to mine. In an instant I had her back against the wall and pumped inside her at a mind blowing pace. With one hand I held her to the wall but used my thumb to rub her sensitive spot roughly. I used my other hand to pinch the hard tip of her breast. Stephanie threw her head back screamed incoherently. I felt my own release coming fast and hard. I struggled to keep my pace as my pleasure boiled over. I buried my face in Stephanie's neck and let the feel of myself inside her along with her delicious scent overtake me.

There was something extremely powerful about us climaxing at the same time. I had never felt so close to her both mind and body. We felt like one body, connected in every way imaginable. I thought no one would know this level of love unless being bound by a supernatural connection. I realized then that I would have loved Stephanie regardless of the imprinting. The imprinting only cemented our love. It only heightened our senses to be able to love and receive love from each other. I realized what a precious gift that imprinting was and I thanked whatever higher power it was that gave me Stephanie.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

I woke up to loud knocking on Stephanie's door.

"Jacob, get up!" Lala called from behind the door.

I smiled when I saw Stephanie sleeping soundly beside me, her head laying against my chest.

"Go away, Lala!" I yelled back causing Stephanie to stir.

"I'm warning you, Jake, I don't mind at all to bust through this door and pull your naked ass out of bed. I've seen you without your Spiderman Underoos before, Wolfie, and I will do it again!"

"What do you want?" I grouched.

"I want what you came here for. You're my Best Dude. You've got jobs to do!" Lala yelled. "Now if I don't hear your feet hit the floor by the time I count to three, I'm dragging you out of there. Your twig and berries will be the talk of the Volturi for many centuries to come! ONE…"

"Go away, Lala!" I grumbled.

"TWO"

"Why can't you leave me alone?" I yelled.

Lala shook the handle of the door.

"THREE!"

I jumped up like a man sitting on a snake infested porta potty.

"That's better." Lala called sweetly. "Oh, I hear Stephanie's awake!"

I looked over to see her stretching. The sight of her naked body only barely covered by the sheets was…was…Damn, that woman was sexy!

"Good morning, Crystal." Stephanie said with a smile.

"Good morning, Stephanie. Did you sleep well? No, you didn't because…"

"That's enough, my love." I heard Caius laugh. "They did nothing that we didn't do. Good morning Jacob, Stephanie. Would you please meet us in the throne room in a half hour? It seems we are needed by our overly excited wedding coordinator."

"And no quickies in the shower. If we can't, then you can't either!" Lala yelled.

Well, even if I wanted to, Lala completely ruined the moment. Leave it to her to deflate my morning erection.

I heard her giggle from down the hall. She must have heard my thoughts. "I love you, Jakie!" she said sweetly.

"Shut up." I growled.

Though Stephanie and I didn't have time for a 'quickie', even if it was at a supernatural pace, we made the best of out time. We dressed one another, letting our hands linger on each others skin as long as possible.

I took Stephanie's hand and kissed it, then walked down to the throne room. When we entered the room, it wasn't what I was expecting at all. The senior guard was there standing on both sides of the thrones. Marcus, Aro, Lala, and Caius sat before us. Their faces were much different than when I first arrived. They were stern, fierce. Though Lala's expression was calmer than the other three, she still held herself with a confidence I didn't know she had. I was proud of my Lala, though I would never tell her that.

"Jacob, Stephanie, there is a matter that we need to clear up before our plans can continue. As my best and most trusted friends, I invite you to stand with me." Lala said sternly, but when we climbed the stairs to her, she winked at me playfully.

Though Lala's demeanor freaked me out, it was Caius who scared the shit out of me. The man, well, vampire, looked nothing like the one I saw last night. His face was cold and cunning. I thought the red eyes of these blood suckers were crazy, but the intensity of his golden ones, together with his vicious sneer, the dude looked like Satan's younger and much better looking brother. His face didn't change in the least as we walked up the stairs to Lala. He looked at us like we had sawed his dick off and set it on fire.

Stephanie and I took our places on each side of Lala. I pushed Stephanie to stand between Lala and Caius. For some reason I thought she was more protected there.

"Bring the offender in." Aro barked.

Felix appeared with a woman that thrashed under his grip. She spat every curse word in the book. Though my language wasn't clean by no means, this woman cussed like a sailor and even I was shocked by it.

"What is her crime?" Aro asked in a deep voice.

The woman's screams grew much louder, calling every leader a slew of unsavory names.

Caius growled. "Felix, if you do not shut her up, I will tear both of you to pieces."

Felix was a big dude and I would have bet that he was hard to put down, but I knew Caius could do it with no problem.

"Yes, Master." Felix said, then grabbed the woman by her throat and pulling her head back, dangerously close to snapping her neck.

"What is her crime?!" Caius growled.

"Masters, My Lady, this woman has plotted against the four of you. She has built an army of 75 newborns and was poised to attack on Master Caius and Lady Crystal's wedding day." Felix said.

Caius' snarl rattled the walls of the room.

"Like hell!" I couldn't help but snarling.

Lala took my hand quickly and squeezed it, a silent Thank You for defending her.

"We took out all of the newborns, but kept this one alive to be judged." Felix said.

Lala curled her hands around the arm rests of her throne. I heard a low growl rumble in her chest.

"What is your name?" Lala asked the crazy lady.

"Go to hell!" the woman yelled.

Though the room erupted in snarles and hisses, Lala laughed. "Wow, that's an odd name. Well, go to hell, tell me what your problem is. What have we done to you that would make you want to ruin my wedding?"

The woman fought again against Felix's hold.

"Let her go, Felix. I want her to answer me." Lala said.

Lala had truly lost her blood sucking mind. Why would she let the woman go when she wanted her dead? I looked to Caius for answers, but his face remained in a sneer, though a slight smile played at the edge of his mouth.

Well, I guess Lala knew what she was doing.

"You killed my mate!" the crazy she-leech spat.

"Is that so? As I don't remember killing anyone myself, I'm gathering the 'you' is referring to the four of us. Is that correct?" Lala said coolly.

"Yes, you BITCH!"

The room exploded with more snarls and hisses. These blood suckers didn't like that their queen was being disrespected. Something was about to go down and I wanted Stephanie as far from it as I could get her. I reached over and grabbed her hand in mine, ready to pull her behind me if a fight broke out.

Caius stood and leaned down into a low crouch ready to rip the woman to shreds.

Lala surprised me again when she laughed. She put her hand on Caius' wrist and said, "Calm, Caius."

He seemed to relax a fraction to her touch and sat back down.

"That's awfully strong language for a woman who is standing before a Queen. I'll tell you what, I will give you one more chance to talk to me civilly. Why did we kill your mate?"

The woman was silent.

"Now you are silent. Dear me, if I didn't know better I would think you want me to rip your throat out." Lala said in a sarcastic tone.

The woman screamed again. "Not if I rip yours out first!" she said, then lunged at Lala.

The woman instantly fell down screaming and shaking in agony.

"Some people never learn, do they Stephanie?" Lala sighed. "Whenever your ready."

What did she mean when she was ready? Before I could protest, Stephanie's body blurred then transformed into her panther form, her shredded clothes falling to floor. She stalked down the stairs to meet the crazy woman thrashing on the floor. The woman seemed to relax in a second, but before she could make a move, Stephanie had the woman in her strong jaws. She shook the woman like a rag doll, then with the sound of tearing metal, she ripped the woman to pieces. With each bite, Stephanie threw pieces of the woman in a pile near Felix.

When she was finished, she stalked back up the stairs and nudged Lala shoulder with her head.

"Thank you, Kitty." Lala laughed.

Stephanie hissed and rolled her eyes. Apparently that was an inside joke.

"Felix, will you please take out the trash? " Lala asked politely.

"Yes, My Lady."

With a wave of Caius' hand the whole guard filed out behind Felix.

The four leaders relaxed their expressions.

"What the hell was that all about?" I growled at Stephanie and Lala.

"Stephanie, I've put more clothes for you in the side room if you'd like to phase." Lala said.

Stephanie disappeared into a room that I hadn't noticed until then. She returned quickly dressed in a black sundress.

"Us girls have to play sometimes, my love." Stephanie smiled, then stretched to kiss my cheek.

"Not with psychopathic she-leeches!"

"Our mates have made a game out of disposing the law breakers." Caius said with a smirk. That dude could turn his demon off and on so fast, he was making me dizzy.

"But what was wrong with her? The woman dropped like she had been struck by lightening." I asked confused.

"Oh, that was me. I zapped her with my super powers." Lala laughed.

"My lovely bride has a most extraordinary power. She can hone in on another immortal's ability even from miles away, then use it to her advantage." Caius said proudly.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Lala smiled. "I can read your mind using Aro's ability, and used Jane's ability to drop that demented fool to the ground."

"Now that justice has prevailed once again, let's turn our attentions to this wedding." Aro said happily.

The guy blabbered on and on about flowers and vows and the color of the wedding cake that only Stephanie and I would eat. I was bored out of my mind, but Stephanie and Lala was engrossed in Aro's every word. I looked over at Caius who had slouched to the right in his throne and looked as bored as I was. He passed the time by trying to get Lala's attention. He started with playing with her hair, then he drew invisible patterns on her back with his finger. Every time she would look at him, he would look at the ceiling. He slid his hand further down her back, then tucked his hand under her shirt and though I didn't want to know what he was doing then, I couldn't help but laugh when she jumped.

"Stop that, Caius!" she snapped.

"Stop what, my love?" he said innocently.

I envied him for being able to pass the time driving his mate crazy. Stephanie was sitting on the other side of Lala on the arm of her throne and I took a seat on the stairs.

When the conversation went to the ribbons of the bridesmaid's bouquet, I was dozing off. That is until Demetri ran in.

"Forgive the interruption Masters, My Lady. You have a visitor." he said.

"Send them away, Demetri. Can't you see that we are in a most important meeting? This wedding isn't going to plan itself, my friend." Aro said with a sneer. That dude took planning Lala's wedding very seriously. I mean, come on, the vampire world would have to take a back seat until the color of the table cloths at the reception have been discussed.

"I took the liberty of telling him that but he's most insistent." Demetri said.

"Who is it?" Caius barked.

"Carlisle Cullen."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"FELIX!" Aro called knowing that wherever Felix was in the castle, he would be able to hear him. "Caius, Jacob, I trust you will guard your mates."

Caius nodded.

"Guard them from what?" I asked, though no one bothered to answer.

Then Aro took Lala's hands in his. "Il mio bambino, (my child) I know that you don't think highly of the Cullen's.

"Don't worry, Father, my ill opinion is for Edward and Bella alone. I am quite fond of Carlisle." Lala said with a smile.

Then Aro turned to Stephanie. "Are you in agreement with Crystal?"

Stephanie smiled. "If she is tolerant of Carlisle, then I will be, too."

"Excellent." Aro said with a smile. "Send him in."

I glanced over in time to see Stephanie place her hand on Lala's shoulder. They looked at each other with no expression. I could tell they were talking to each other in their minds. I guess they never heard that keeping people out of their conversations was rude. Maybe human etiquette didn't apply to the inhuman.

Demetri came back with Carlisle and Felix.

"Carlisle, my old friend, what a wonderful surprise!" Aro said like he'd just won the lottery. Like he'd need it. I'll bet these Volturi's have more money than…everyone else in the whole freaking world.

"Greetings, Aro." Doctor Fang said with a strained smile.

I took a minute to look at everyone to gage their feelings on the unexpected guest. No one else seemed to think he was a 'wonderful surprise.' Not even Stephanie. My most beautiful mate looked at Carlisle with disgust. I figured that Lala must have told her all about the Cullen's. She was angry for how Bella had treated Lala and the actions of one Cullen reflected bad on the rest of the family. I had seen first hand the bond Stephanie and Lala had. They were best friends. They had each other's back and if Lala had a problem with the Cullen's, then Stephanie did also. But I couldn't help wondering if Stephanie's hatred went deeper than that.

"What has brought you here after all this time?" Aro asked with a sickening sweet voice.

Carlisle exhaled. "My family have been deeply hurt about the need to keep us from Caius and Crystal's wedding celebration. We are apart of the vampire community and since covens and nomads alike have been invited, they feel that it is their proper place to be here to celebrate the happy occasion."

"Tell your childish family to suck it up, Carlisle. Now leave us!" Caius hissed.

Aro turned to him, "Calmly, brother."

"With all due respect, Caius, my family have great reverence for you and Crystal. They see our future queen as a distant part of our family. They only want to wish you well." Carlisle pleaded.

"It is the wish of your future queen that you and your family do not attend our wedding. If your family have great respect for us as you have said, then you will abide by her wishes and LEAVE NOW!" Caius yelled.

If it was me, I would have tucked my furry tail between my legs and got the hell out of there, but Carlisle stood his stupid ground.

"Can I give them a reason for your decision?"

This time it was Lala that spoke.

"Carlisle, you may tell your family that because of their involvement with Bella Swan, they are unwelcome."

Carlisle lowered his head and nodded.

Lala looked at Stephanie and smiled. Uh oh.

"If your family are so upset then why haven't they came to plead along side you?" Lala asked.

Uh oh.

"They are here, My Lady. They thought it was best that I speak on their behalf."

Oh shit.

Lala's loud sinister laugh rang in my ears and before Caius or I had a chance to hold her back, she dashed out of the room. Not a second after that, Stephanie blurred with the sound of her clothes ripping, she transformed into her panther and bounded after Lala. Her demeanor was not one that would lead me to believe that she was going to restrain Lala, but to aid her in her fury.

Caius and I bolted after them. I heard Aro and Marcus close behind us.

We found them in the reception area right by the elevator. In the back of my mind I thought of how completely crazy it was to have a elevator and a receptionist in a castle of vampires. They could have ran down the steps faster that the elevator could take them down. Stupid.

Bella stood in the middle of the room with Edward crouched protectively in front of her. Another thought etched in my head. Why did I love Bella so much? Sure, she wasn't my imprint so she wouldn't carry the same feelings in me as Stephanie, but I had loved this plain girl that stood trembling with fear. She had hurt me, she ripped my heart out….

Lala heard my thoughts and snarled. "And that's why she must die!"

"You will not touch her!" Edward yelled.

Lala laughed, "Edward, you are such a idiot. Do you honestly think I would listen to you when I hate you nearly as much as I hate Bella. It was you who she left Jacob for. She used Jacob to get over you, but the minute you were attainable, she dropped him and ran here to be with you." Then she sneered at Bella, "You told me to burn in hell with Caius. So, mortal, what do you think of hell? You are about to die in the hands of a vampire and a panther. Do you feel the heat yet?"

Before Lala could strike, Caius grabbed her by her arms and restrained her.

"LET ME GO, CAIUS! Stephanie and I will have our revenge." Lala yelled. She struggled against Caius' hold. "I SAID LET ME GO NOW!"

Stephanie was still circling Bella and Edward.

"Wh…why is that cat here? I…Is it going to kill me?" Bella asked terrified.

"She is a shape shifter. She is Jacob's imprint." Edward said, no doubt reading our minds.

Bella searched the room then gasped. "J…Jacob? What are you doing here?"

Stephanie hissed.

"Stephanie, calm down." I said, then turned to Bella. "You don't think I would miss my best friend's wedding, do you?" I asked.

"I'm your best friend." Bella said with a hint of defiance.

Stephanie hissed again, this time louder.

"Stephanie, honey, come here." I said calmly.

"Jacob, Crystal is not the person she used to be. She's a vampire. A evil sadistic vampire. She's a Volturi now, Jake. You need to get out of here!" Bella pleaded.

Lala roared violently. "Let me show you how sadistic I can be, you filthy human! CAIUS, LET ME GO!"

It seemed Stephanie had enough of Bella, too, because she bent low and was prepared to strike at any second. I knew I had no chance in hell of stopping her in my human form. She was too quick and too strong. I let the fire overtake me and I shook into my wolf. I jumped in front of Stephanie, which seemed to surprise her. She hissed at me furiously. I growled in response. I dipped my head and pushed her back with my nose on her chest. She fought to get past me, but with each twist, I was there to stop her.

"Why does she want to kill me?" Bella asked Edward.

"First, she is extremely loyal to Crystal. It goes both ways because Crystal is equally as loyal to her. They have an extraordinary bond. It is as if they are friend imprints." Edward said. "But not only that, Crystal has mercilessly told her about the end of your friendship with Jacob. It hurt him deeply. The cat, while knowing that if you hadn't chose me over Jacob that she wouldn't have him in her life now, she enraged because of how you have hurt him. She wants to protect Jacob and end anyone who has caused him pain."

Bella just stood there with her mouth gaped open. Now that I think of it, she did that a lot. She fluttered her eyes a lot, too. Though I didn't see it when I loved her, it was quite annoying.

"You were a fool to bring your pet here, boy." Caius spat. "We let her live the last time she was here. I told you then that we don't offer second chances. Now your queen and her dearest friend, Stephanie, wishes to enforce the law. Why should we not release them to tear your human to pieces?"

"Please, don't let them kill our children!" the mommy leech cried.

Aro stepped forward. "Your queen is a newborn. She acts merely on instinct. Did you really think young Bella would be safe here when Crystal holds a grudge against her? Now with our darling Stephanie here who would love nothing more than to rip your whole family apart, surely you don't think the fate of any of you is any fault ours."

"Please, Masters, let my family leave in peace." the mom said.

That's when Bella got brave. Brave and stupid. "My family will leave this place and never return if Jacob leaves with us."

All hell broke loose then. Stephanie and Lala went wild with fury. They broke free of the hold that Caius and I had on them and charged toward Bella and Edward. They seemed to plan their attack within their minds because their movements were perfect. Stephanie leaped in the air and caught Edward by his upper leg, threw him down to the floor, and shook him like a rag doll, while Lala went after Bella.

I pushed Stephanie away from Edward with a careful swipe of my paw, and with Felix's help (when did he get there?) we pushed Stephanie out of the hall. I glanced over to see Lala thrashing against Caius who held her under her arms, and Demetri had her feet. They followed us out of the hall. We didn't stop until we reached Caius and Lala's room.

I saw two robes laying across the couch so I took them in my mouth and pushed Stephanie into the bathroom. The room was massive, it had to be to hold a overgrown wolf and an irate black panther. I let the heat of my wolf sink back into my skin and in a few seconds, I returned to my human form.

"Stephanie, honey, you need to phase." I said putting on one of the robes.

She growled at me.

"Stephanie, come on baby. You need to talk to me."

I then heard a crash from in the living room.

"CAIUS, HOW DARE YOU DENY ME MY VINGANCE!" Lala screamed.

"Crystal, darling, you must control yourself." Caius said with a soothing voice.

I took a chance to peek out the bathroom door to see Caius who had Lala pinned to the floor. I guess I was doing way better than him. Well…since my imprint was still in her panther form, maybe I shouldn't have thought that.

"GET OFF ME, CAIUS!" Lala screamed and bucked her hips as if to throw him off her.

"YOU WILL CALM DOWN NOW!" Caius growled and Lala froze with her eyes wide.

I took that opportunity to close the door. When I turned around, Stephanie stood in her human form with the robe on. She had her arms crossed in front of her with an I'm-going-to-turn-you-into-panther-chow expression on her face.

"Come here, sweetheart." I said and held my arms out to her.

She just looked at me.

"Please."

She seemed to relax and she stepped forward to let me wrap my arms around her.

"Is it true what Edward said? Were you out for Bella's blood because she hurt me?" I asked.

Stephanie didn't raise her head from my chest. "Yes, and don't you dare say it was wrong of me."

I had to chuckle at that. "No, honey, I don't think it was wrong of you. I understand that it's the imprint. I would have reacted the same way."

She raised up then and looked at me evenly. "I am pretty pissed that you pushed me away before I could get a good bite of Edward."

"I know. I would have loved to see you do it, too, but the fight had to stop somewhere before you and Lala massacred the whole Cullen family." I said, then let my forehead rest on hers. "I love you, my angel, and I'm the luckiest man, or wolf, in the universe because you love me, too. Looking back on the way things were, I realize now that I didn't know love then. What I felt for Bella is a sick comparison to my love for you. I was naïve then. It's quite laughable now to me that I thought I loved her. Yes, my heart was broken, but you're here now. You are the keeper of all my love and my whole heart. The only way for me to be broken is if you leave me, and because I see in your eyes that you want nothing more than to throw me down and make passionate love to me, I am guessing you aren't going anywhere."

That made Stephanie laugh. My heart skipped a beat just to see her smile.

"No, I'm not going anywhere." she said.

I listened for a moment. "Well, since I don't hear Lala screaming like a banshee, maybe we are safe to come out of the bathroom and head to your room."

I opened the door quietly and peeked out. Caius sat in the overstuffed chair reading a book. Lala was no where in sight. I took Stephanie's hand and led her out of the bathroom.

Caius looked up from his book and smiled warily.

"Where's Lala?" I asked.

"If my hearing serves me right, I think she's in the courtyard taking out her aggressions on an oak tree. My delicate bride is a newborn so it takes her longer to kiss and make up. I will give her another hour then I'll go down there and bring her back here kicking and screaming. Then I'll hold her down and lick her sweet…"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THAT, DUDE!" I GROWLED.

"Sorry. My point being that give her a few hours and she'll be your loving best friend again. On the bright side, you and Stephanie will have wood for the fireplaces in your rooms. We find lighting a fire really sets a romantic mood." Caius smiled.

"Yeah, I'll take your word for it." I grouched. I really didn't want to think about Lala's romantic mood and love and sweet…GAH! Never mind!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Stephanie and I made love well into the night. I couldn't get enough of her skin against mine or the sounds she made when I pleased her. Her moans only fueled my pleasure so we climaxed together every time.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I woke up wrapped in Stephanie's arms the next morning.

"Good Morning, Jacob." she said, running her fingers through my hair.

I looked up to see her smiling at me.

"Hey, honey." I smiled. "So, where's the pest this morning? Did Lala try to wake us up?"

"No, I haven't heard her. The castle is unusually quiet." she said.

That made me nervous. Lala was spitting mad yesterday, but Caius was sure she would be fine.

Stephanie got up and headed for the bathroom.

"Hey, where are you going? What if I wanted more of you?" I asked with a sly smile.

"Come on, Jake, you know you want to go find out where Crystal and Caius are."

Stephanie was right. Damn, Lala was toxic. She killed my morning arousal no matter where the brat was!

We dressed quickly, then walked to Lala's chamber. I was relieved when we didn't hear them. I would have literally hurled if I had caught them in the act!

We couldn't find one bloodsucker in the whole place.

"What the hell? Did the vamp mother ship land and they've all went to their leech home in the sky?" I asked, puzzled.

"Seriously, how many times have you watched ET?" Stephanie laughed.

We continued on until we stepped out on the back deck overlooking the massive yard where Stephanie and I phased for the first time.

There they were, every blood sucker in the castle, running all around at insane speed, putting up tents and laying some kind of wood floor.

"AH, Stephanie and Jacob, how wonderful it is that you have came out to join us." (Since the word 'wonderful' was used, I'll bet I don't have to tell you who greeted us.)

"Good Morning, Blue Meanie." Stephanie laughed.

Aro cackled. "Oh, my dear Stephanie, what joy you have brought me since your arrival."

I was about to ask him where Caius and Lala were, but I heard Lala's laugh carry through the yard. I saw her darting between leeches and through tents with Caius not far behind her.

"You had better stop running, my little vixen. You will pay for spraying me with water." Caius laughed.

"You can't make me pay if you can't catch me!" Lala giggled.

"So all is forgiven, huh?" I asked.

"To Caius, there was nothing to forgive. He knew she would be mad at him for not letting her kill Bella. As she matures in her new life, the rage will calm and she would have been devastated that she killed Bella. Caius also knows what it's like being a newborn, though it has been over three thousand years since he was one. He understands Crystal's anger and proceeds with caution when she's enraged. If he didn't love her so much, they may have came to blows a few times, but a love like theirs is mind blowing. It seldom happens to our kind."

Aro watched them and shook his head. "I should have known they wouldn't be much help to me today." he smiled.

"So what about the Cullen's?" I asked.

"Let's just say that Crystal, and your lovely mate, Stephanie, scared them senseless. They walked away with their lives with the promise that they will never return without being called upon. If they disobey, we will not reign in our greatest weapons!" Aro laughed.

Cauis' laugh filled the air. I was surprised that he wasn't all demon vamp in the middle of all the others. I didn't notice Aro brush my hand with his until he spoke. I guess personal space is another human rule these bloodsuckers don't understand.

"Indeed, my friend. On rare occasions, Crystal seems to break through his barbaric nature and he acts …happy. Of course we all know how…happy they are when they're alone, but Caius usually doesn't show that side of himself to anyone else."

When I heard Lala squeal, I figured Caius had caught her.

"Now, my queen, you will pay!" Caius growled from behind us.

I heard Lala laugh hysterically. "Caius, stop!"

"Say you're sorry!" Caius said between laughs.

"No…..Caius cut it out!" Lala said, still laughing.

Who knew vampires were ticklish.

"Say you're sorry!"

Lala's laughter was infectious, making most of the vampires in the yard laugh.

"NO…AH! Wait, okay, I'm sorry!"

"Now, Jacob, Stephanie, I have a job for you two." Aro said. "In the smaller ballroom there are tables stacked with presents sent to Caius and Crystal from covens all over the world. Now, I know the job will be time consuming and will not meet your expectations of fun, but since I can't get any of the guard to set foot near there, I will ask the two of you to do the job of cataloging each present with the name of the givers so that Caius and Crystal may write thank you notes later."

A time consuming job….with Stephanie…in a room of the castle where we are guaranteed to be alone…yep, sounds like the job for us!

"We'd be glad to, Aro." Stephanie said, then grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

We walked hand in hand down several long hallways. I was thankful that Stephanie knew her way around.

"How many ballrooms does a castle need?" I asked.

"Apparently five. The wedding will be held in the largest ballroom, there's three that are reserved for holidays, and then there's the small ballroom for everything else."

"Fantastic." I groaned, which made Stephanie laugh.

I realized as we walked that though I loved Stephanie with all my heart, I didn't know a lot about the small things in her life. The things she liked to do, her favorite foods, you know, stuff like that. I asked question after question as we traveled down the halls.

"Damn, Jacob, I feel like I'm being questioned by the CIA, or are you more of a mafia kind of guy?" Stephanie winked.

"Neither. I prefer to think of myself as one of the dudes from Criminal Minds. They're awesome."

Stephanie led me through huge black double doors. Well, if that was the small ballroom, then the large ballroom must be as big as a football field. There was around ten long tables full of presents.

"Where are they going to put all this stuff?" I asked stunned.

"Who knows?" she said. "I guess we'd better get started."

The job was definitely time consuming. I felt like I had been there half a day when we had finished just one table. I used the time to fire more questions at Stephanie. She didn't like all the attention, so she asked me questions, too.

It wasn't long before our questions went straight to the gutter.

"What's your favorite way to be pleasured?" I asked her.

She laughed but showed no signs of being embarrassed.

"It's really hard to pick. Your fingers are pretty talented but your tongue is amazing! But I think my favorite is this." She cupped my arousal (yeah, that's right, I was already aroused by just the talk of her pleasure) in the palm of her hand and squeezed gently. There she was, being assertive again, and I loved every minute of it.

I moaned at her touch.

"Alright, my turn." she said seductively. "Have you ever had sex on a table?"

I couldn't help it, I grabbed Stephanie by her thighs and sat her roughly on the table. She wound her fingers in my hair, pulled me to her and, crashed her lips to mine.

We were frenzied. Our hands and kisses were everywhere. I couldn't get closer to her. Even when I pressed her body to mine, I still felt like I needed to be closer…so I pushed her dress up to her waist and tore away her panties. When I thought to take off my pants, I realized she already had them down to my ankles. I entered her hard and fast. Stephanie snaked her hands up my shirt and gripped onto my back, trying to hold on as I pounded inside her.

I felt my release coming on fast, but I could tell Stephanie wasn't quite there yet. With one swift movement, I lifted her off the table and flipped her to stand with her back to me, then I bent her over the table. I thrust inside her again and used the new position to reach around her hip to her folds and massage her sensitive spot roughly. I smiled when she screamed my name, then her walls tightened around me as her ecstasy peaked. She grabbed onto the side of the table and rode out her high, screaming and moaning my name over and over again. My release came hard and at the same time. I loved climaxing with her. I loved to hear her pleasure as I rode out my own.

She laid her upper body on the table and worked to catch her breath. I let my chest fall against her back and I kissed the back of her neck and shoulders.

"Yes." I said.

"Yes, what."

"Yes, I have had sex on a table."

It was well after dark when Caius and Lala found us waist deep in presents.

"So, how many coffee pots did we get?" Lala asked Stephanie.

"I would say that everyone knows a vampire doesn't need a coffee pot, but since you did get a blender from someone, I guess not everyone is privy to a vampire's diet." Stephanie said.

"Come on, Kitty, Aro has asked for us to meet him in the throne room." Lala told Stephanie.

"And we, my friend, get to stay right here." Caius said and shot me a relieved expression.

When the girls left, Caius stepped over the mountain of china and sat beside me on a large couch against a window.

"So, the big day is just two days away. Are you nervous, or do vampire's get nervous." I asked.

"Yes, vampire's get nervous but I am not. I'm too evil to get nervous." Caius chuckled.

We sat in silence for a minute, then I asked something that had been on my mind since I got there. "So Lala is your mate, the same as Stephanie is my imprint, so why get married? The bond of mating is greater than marriage. You know you'll be with her forever, so why worry about all this?" I gestured to the tables of presents.

"I'm usually not the kind of monster that speaks of love or feelings. That talk is for fools. But I will make an exception for you, Jacob, only because you love Crystal as much as I do. One night not long after Crystal came here, I asked her what her favorite childhood memory was. She told me that when she was little she and her friends would play wedding. They would each dress in her mom's dresses and high heels and marry invisible grooms." Caius chuckled. "She said that she would always pretend that when her invisible groom proposed, he would give her a white rose and hidden in the petals was a diamond ring."

"I remember that. I was always her best dude. How ironic." I laughed.

"Yes, she told me that part, too." Caius smiled. "I love Crystal. She makes me happier than I have ever been and I want to make her happy. So remembering that story, one night I found her in her favorite spot in the castle. It's on the roof of one of the towers. She was just standing there, staring at the stars. I watched her there for quite a while admiring how the moon reflected in her eyes."

Normally when a dude would start with the sappy stuff, I'd punch them and call them a puss, but for some reason I liked what Caius had to say.

"I walked out to meet her and slid my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. She sighed happily and rested her head against my chest. Then I told her that I had been in the garden earlier and picked her a flower. She smiled when I gave her a white rose. She thanked me and kissed me on the cheek, then her expression changed. She looked at the rose a bit closer and realized I had hid her engagement ring inside the pedals."

I couldn't believe I did it, but I said, "Aww." The dude had just turned me soft. I had to shake it off. Put my man pants back on. I vowed right then to never again to say "Aww."

"Every time she says my name, every smile, the sound of her laugh, the fire in her eyes when she's angry, and the touch of her lips against mine. The feel of her touch when we make love. All of those things are why I'm marrying Crystal in two days."

We sat in silence for a minute. I kept my lips shut tight because I didn't want to risk the chance that I may come off as a guy who liked the fluff.

"So what about you? After the wedding, you and Stephanie will be free to travel home. What are you going to do? Since she's the Dea of her protected, and you are the true Alpha of your pack, how will you stay together?" Caius asked.

That was a problem that I had been avoiding since the day I realized that Stephanie was my imprint. I knew without a doubt that I would have left my home on the reservation and follow Stephanie anywhere. There's no way I could be without her. But I didn't know how it would work for her. Would she want to be separated for good from her protected? Could she if she wanted to?"

'I don't know, Caius. We can't be apart, I know that for sure." I said, looking at my hands as the rested on my knees.

"Then let me give you an option. Crystal will be crushed when you have to go home. It will be torture for not only her, but the rest of us as well. A sad queen does not make for a happy Volturi." Caius said with a grin. "For decades, my brothers and I have been intrigued at the idea of combining forces with other supernatural beings. We've thought that if we could form an alliance with other groups, then we could protect not only the vampire world, but the immortal community as a whole. I see the perfect opportunity to realize these ideas with you and Stephanie. You two could be the voice of the shape shifter community. You could work with us to ensure the safety of others like you." Caius said excitedly.

"Wait a minute. You Volturi are suppose to be wicked. Bella said you're the bad guys." I said, my brow furrowed.

Caius chuckled. "Of course SHE would say that because she only hears lies from the Cullen's. The Volturi rule with an iron fist. We have no tolerance for people who choose to compromise the safety of our world. For those covens who choose to abide by our laws, they can go their whole existence with barely a word from us. We are ready to give help to those who live in peace whenever they need it.

Think about it Jacob, if we are as bad as the Cullen's say we are, do you think there would be a vampire in existence today? If our own needs come before our people, would our world be hidden from the human eye? Would most of our world live in peace today?"

He did have a point.

"We have made the law and enforced it for over two thousand years. Because of the way we rule, our existence is only fables for humans to speculate over."

"So what's the Cullen's have against you?" I asked.

"The Cullen's have bucked our laws since the day Carlisle left us. He chose to build himself a family and raise them on animal blood. They choose to live and interact with humans, bringing our secret too close to human eyes and threatening the existence that my brothers and I have fought to protect. Then they chose to bring a human into our world willingly. That is a blatant violation against our most important law. It's under our mercy that they live today. Even after all that happened yesterday, they still returned to Forks unharmed."

I laughed. "I can't say they were totally unharmed. Edward definitely felt Stephanie's teeth sink into his skin and I think Lala scared the shit out of Bella."

'That's true." Caius grinned.

We sat quiet again. I was going over everything Caius said in my head. I completely saw the Volturi in a whole new way, one that made perfect sense. And now he wants Stephanie and I to team up with him and his brothers to keep other shape shifters safe.

I was suppose to take my place as Alpha when I returned home, but what if this opportunity gave me the power to protect my pack even more. I not only thought about my pack mates now, but the younger guys that will no doubt phase in the future given their proximity to the Cullen's. It would be great to be able to ensure that no harm would come to them, and if there was ever a threat, then we'd have the Volturi on our side.

"We would have to stay here if we accepted your offer?" I asked.

"Well, you would have to as long as you were able to keep in contact with us daily, but wouldn't it be easier to be here….with us…with Stephanie…sharing a bed…staying together?"

"You have a point there, Caius."

He laughed. "I usually do."

"Well, I guess I will talk this over with Stephanie and let you know what we decide."

Caius stood and shook my hand. For some reason, his icy skin didn't bother me as much as before. The dude was growing on me. "Take all the time you need. Now, my friend, I must go find my bride. We need to hunt before the big day. Would you like to join us or I can have Demetri get take out if you and Stephanie would prefer human food."

"I think human food sounds fantastic, and I can't imagine Stephanie disagreeing with me."

"Okay, I'll have Demetri bring the food to Stephanie's room."

We found Stephanie and Lala in the intriguing discussion of whether to use red or blue lighting as the backdrop for the Volturi crest ice sculpture.

"Forgive my interruption, but it is time to hunt, my sweet." Caius said and whisked Lala away before she had time to protest.

I liked that idea.

"And you, honey, will be dining with me tonight in your room." I said. I wrapped my arm around Stephanie's waist and pulled her from the room.

"Well, that was rude. You didn't give me a chance to say goodnight." Stephanie huffed.

"I'm sorry, darling, but we have things to talk about."

"Like what?" she asked with apprehension.

"Our future."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Demetri came with our dinner about fifteen minutes after we were in Stephanie's room.

"I know nothing of human food or how much you consume, so I purchased a little bit of everything." he said like he was still confused about his trip the restaurant.

"I'm sure it will be wonderful. Thank you, Demetri." Stephanie said with a smile.

The dude wasn't kidding when he said he got a little of everything. He gave us steak, pork chops, spaghetti, salad, and several side stuff like potatoes.

We decided to have a picnic on the terrace. The city was beautiful under us, if you like that sort of thing.

"Stephanie, have you wondered what will happen to us after the wedding?" I asked between bites.

"That's basically all I think about." she said with her head down.

"Why didn't you say something, honey?"

"Because we were having such a good time, I didn't want to start with the heavy stuff." she said with a weak smile.

"What have you decided?" I asked.

"I have no idea. We can't be apart, that's for sure. I feel like I'm being ripped apart when we are opposite ends of the castle. I would die if I were on the other side of our country from you."

It sounded like her thoughts were the same as mine. Though I knew that she felt the imprint as much as I did, it was good to hear it from her mouth. She didn't want us to be apart, too.

"Well, apparently Caius has also been thinking about our predicament and gave us an option about our future." I said.

I told her everything that Caius told me. I looked closely as she reacted to the things I said. Her emotions were all over the place, just like mine.

"We would have to live here?" she asked.

"Caius said we wouldn't have to, but it would fit our need to be together if we did stay here."

"That's true." she said with a smile.

"How will it affect our roles as Alpha and Dea?" she asked. That was my concern, too.

"Well, the way I see it, we could protect our packs…"

"Protected, honey. Mine are the protected." she said and caressed my cheek with her finger.

"Yeah, the protected." I said with a grin. "We could protect our…people…better from here. We could monitor everything that goes on in our warped fairy tale world and when something comes against our…people, we have the Volturi's help to rip the enemy to shreds."

Stephanie just sat there chewing her food. It seemed like forever she was silent.

"Let me think about it. Regardless, the protected need their leader." she said.

"Well, do you have a second in command that could step up as the Dea?"

"Not like a Beta in your case. If I decide to stay here, I will have to go break my bond as Dea. There's a huge ceremony were I have to give up the Dea, then the mother spirit has to choose another." she said.

I could see reluctance in her eyes.

"And you don't want to do that." I said point blank.

She exhaled. "It's not that I don't want to do it , it's just that I will be sad to do it. Won't you miss your pack?"

I had worried over Stephanie's feelings so much that I didn't stop to consider my own.

"Yeah, I'll miss the guys. Though they piss me off pretty often, I will miss them. But I've been given the opportunity to look after them more than an Alpha. I know that Sam will stay on as Alpha and will understand why I have to stay here."

"I guess the ability to protect Crystal isn't a factor in your decision?" she said knowing what I would say.

"She's a queen. She can take care of herself. If there is trouble, she has barbaric Caius, Big Felix and that little witch Jane to protect her." I said with a shrug.

Stephanie just looked at me knowing that was a fat lie.

"Alright, fine. Yes, I want to be here to look after her. Old habits die hard. To me she's just Lala who I love more than a sister." Then I narrowed my eyes. "But don't tell her that. She knows how I feel but she'd tease me for the next thirty years if I got sappy with her."

Stephanie laughed. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. I wished I had a white rose with a ring in it right then. Everything that Caius said earlier made perfect sense. I could live on just one smile from my beautiful Stephanie. To see her eyes sparkle the way they did then, I would do anything.

"What does Crystal say about all this?" she asked.

"Lala doesn't know. Caius, being the whipped vamp that he is, wants her to be happy and though this new alliance would be good for our people, he really doesn't want her to be sad when we leave."

Stephanie smiled.

We sat in silence again. I wished I had that weirdo Aro's mind reading stuff. I would have loved to know what was going on in Stephanie's head.

She scooted over to me and nuzzled her face in my neck. "I just want to be with you. Whether we live in here or back home, even if we have to live on the moon, I will do whatever it takes to be with you."

I couldn't help but laugh, "Can you imagine the sex on the moon? It would be some freaky lovin' with no gravity!"

"Only you would think about that." Stephanie laughed.

"I can't imagine our sex getting any better. We are pretty awesome at it." I said grinning.

Stephanie raised onto her knees in front of me and kissed me. "Show me." she said.

I pulled her down to the floor on top of me and began another night of pleasure. Something about being on the terrace, under the stars in the cool night air made our time together more intense…you know, if you like that sort of thing.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The night before the wedding, Aro gathered us all together to practice what we had to do during the wedding. Stephanie and I had the easy job. We just had to walk down the isle together and stand beside Lala through the whole thing. I thought it was odd that other than the huge rock that was Lala's engagement ring, they wouldn't exchange wedding bands. I mean, isn't that all apart of it? But Caius said that vampire mates have another symbol of their union, something about biting each other during sex which I did NOT want to know! All I had to do during the ceremony was hand him Lala's Volturi crest when the time came.

I woke up the next morning to Lala knocking on our door. I was surprised that she wasn't beating on it and demanding me to get up like she did before.

"Jacob, are you awake?" she asked calmly.

"I am now." I said, my voice sounded groggy.

I turned to kiss Stephanie but she was gone. Of course Lala read my mind.

"Stephanie is with Aro greeting the guest that are arriving early." she said. "Can I talk to you, Jake?"

I could hear the anxiety in her voice. "Yeah, come in." I said.

Lala came in and sat beside me on the bed. I had raised up to rest my back against the headboard. "What's wrong?"

Lala looked down at her hands. She twirled her engagement ring on her finger nervously.

I took one of her hands in mine and tried to calm her by rubbing circles on her palm with my thumb.

"Come on, Lala. Out with it. What's the matter? Are you having second thoughts?"

"No, not at all. I was born to be with Caius, both in my mortal and immortal life. I have wanted nothing more than to be his wife."

She looked like she was about to bolt from the castle.

"Then what is it?"

"I'm nervous, Jake. Why on earth did I agree to let Aro take over the wedding planning? He has invited every coven and nomad from here to Antarctica. There will be hundreds of immortals there. You know how I hate being the center of attention." she said. Her panicked face broke my heart.

"Well, Lala, I think the thought of you blending in with the crowd of leeches went out the window when Caius became your mate." I said.

"I know. But I'm scared to death." she then smiled. "See what I did there? Scared to death, but I'm already dead."

"Yes, Lala, you're a real crack up." I said and rolled my eyes. I then heard familiar footsteps from the end of the hallway. They stopped not far from my closed door. I guess Lala didn't hear them through her panic.

"What do you want? What would make you feel better?" I asked, knowing I was not the only one to hear her reply.

"I want you to walk me down the isle. You are the only one that calms my nerves other than Caius and Stephanie."

Wow, I didn't see that coming. "What about Aro? I thought he was walking you down the isle. And I am supposed to be walking with Stephanie. I was quite looking forward to walking with her."

"Aro touched my hand while trying to calm me and saw what I wanted. He clasped his hands together and said "Oh how wonderful. This means I can walk my precious Stephanie down the isle! She brings me such joy!" Lala said with a pretty good impression of her spastic adopted vamp-dad."

"Alright, Lala, I will walk you down the isle if that's what will make you happy." I said.

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Thanks, Jake."

She got up to leave, but stopped when she got to the door. "You know, if I had it to do all over again, I would have insisted on marrying Caius on the roof of the tower where he proposed. Just us with you and Stephanie, Aro and Marcus. But I guess I'm sounding selfish. Aro has planned this beautiful event and I will enjoy it. Be warned, don't let Aro plan your wedding. You may get married on a yellow submarine." Lala said with a smile. "See ya in a few hours, Jacob."

Only seconds after I heard Lala's footsteps leave the hall, someone knocked on my door.

Time to plan.

I walked from my room to Lala's while adjusting the bowtie of my tuxedo. I hated wearing those monkey suits. I heard her and Stephanie laughing when I got to her door. I knocked quietly. Their laughs stopped suddenly then Stephanie opened the door.

Damn, I was floored.

There's just no words to describe the way she looked standing in front of me. My heart thundered in my chest and my mouth went dry. She was just that beautiful. She had her hair pulled back with a strapless black dress that had a red ribbon that crossed her waist to her back. I couldn't keep my eyes from the exposed skin of her perfect neck and shoulders. Her dress hugged her curves in such a way that made my wolf uneasy. The need to take her once again was almost too strong to ignore.

"Wow, Jacob, you look amazing." Stephanie said with a wide smile.

I couldn't speak. If I tried it all would have came out as mumbles and stutters so I took her face in my hands and kissed her gently.

"My angel." I finally managed to say. I wasn't used to all the gooey romantic stuff, but Stephanie had brought that side out of me.

"Stephanie, can you help me with the last button?" Lala asked, coming from the bathroom.

I realized then that she was made to be a queen. Her hair was pulled up with curls hanging down. Her strapless white dress was made similar to Stephanie's with the red ribbon at her waist, but the bottom of Lala's was big and poofy. (What? I'm a guy, I don't know how else to describe it!)

Stephanie clasped the button at Lala's waist, then Lala looked at me with a smile.

"So, how do I look?" she asked.

I pretended to look her over. "You don't look as bad as you smell."

She laughed. "Thank you, Jake. I'll never know how you've became so sensitive."

I took her hands in mine and kissed each one. I didn't have to say anything. Lala knew how I felt. She smiled as if she could cry…well, she may have if she wasn't dead and could cry.

"I guess it's time to get the show on the road." I said.

Lala's expression turned nervous again.

"Don't be afraid, Crystal, Jake and I will be right beside you. Most importantly, Caius is waiting for you." Stephanie said.

"You're right. I can deal with hundreds of people." she said, but made no attempt to move.

"Do vampires throw up?" she asked seriously.

"You'd better not puke on that dress. Aro spent enough on that dress to feed a small country for a month." Stephanie laughed.

Seeing Lala's nervous expression reminded me of when we were kids. I was always there to comfort her then, so I would be again. I pulled her into my arms.

"Lala, I can't do anything about your nerves. You've always been afraid of attention. I will say, though, that Caius loves you and would face the devil himself just to make you happy."

Lala smiled brightly. "I know he would."

She had no idea.

I led my two favorite girls out of the room and down the hall. I thought about how I held my life in my hands. Lala's cold hand was in mine on my left side. She was my cousin, more like a sister and my best friend. She held my past and present. On my right side was my beautiful Stephanie. She held my hand with a warm soft touch. She was my life, my love, my happiness, everything. She held my present and future.

When we reached the end of the hall, I had to pull Lala back when she turned to our left.

"What are you doing? The ballroom is this way." Lala said confused.

"We're just going to take a detour. It'll calm your nerves." Stephanie smiled.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Lala nodded.

I was glad that Stephanie knew where we were going. She knew the massive castle like the back of her hand, while I was good to find the bathroom in my own room!

Stephanie was great at distracting Lala with talk of redoing a wing of the castle for she and Caius. I spent the next few minutes daydreaming about all I would do to my imprint for taking Lala's nerves away.

"We could make a room for you and Jake." Lala said. "You will visit often, won't you."

"Of course." I said with a smile.

I looked over at Stephanie who looked like she could have burst to tell Lala that we were staying, but we decided to wait until after the wedding. Though I was happy to not have to live far from Lala, I was more excited to start my new life with Stephanie. I thought our decision to stay in Volterra was a good one. If we had lived on the reservation or near her protected, we would never have had privacy. I learned that Stephanie could link her mind with her group when they were in their animal forms. No matter what we said or did, it would be shared with everyone else. Living with Caius and Lala would be an adjustment to me, mostly to find a way to cover up their stink, but Stephanie and I could have time alone. Lala was a pest, but I knew she would respect our privacy and let us keep our minds to ourselves.

"Crystal, have you shown Jacob the tower roof where Caius proposed?" Stephanie asked.

"No, but is this the right time? I mean, two hundred vampires are waiting…Caius is waiting."

"And they can wait a few more minutes." I said then pulled her up the winding staircase. Lala mouthed the whole way up, that is until she saw Caius at the top of the stairs.

"Caius, w…what are you doing here? Why aren't you in the ballroom?" Lala asked bewildered.

Caius took her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "You look magnificent, darling."

Lala tried to talk but Caius put his finger on her lips. "Come, my bride, let's get married." he said with a huge smile.

Stephanie and I followed Caius and Lala onto the roof. Jane and Demetri decorated the area with many of the white and red roses that were in the ballroom, immediately after Caius got the approval of Aro. I wasn't kidding about Caius facing the devil for her happiness. Let's just say that it took a while for Aro to agree to the change in plans."

"You heard me talking to Jake this morning." Lala said to Caius with a smile.

Caius kissed her hand. "Anything for your happiness."

Caius and Lala got married as the sun set over Volterra. Marcus officiated. Who knew the old constipated leech could perform weddings! Apparently, he was the go to vamp when a monster wanted to get hitched.

After I handed Lala's Volturi crest to Caius, he fastened it around her neck then dipped her in his arms and kissed her a lot longer than I would have liked. Marcus told him to kiss the bride, not suck the bride's face off. (See what I did there? Suck…because he's a vampire…Never mind.)

Everyone headed down to the back lawn for the reception. I could hear music and people, I mean bloodsuckers, laughing and talking. Before Stephanie could follow Aro down the stairs, I slid my hand into hers. She looked at me surprised.

"Stay with me." I said.

I led her to the side of the roof and held her in my arms.

"The city is beautiful from up here." Stephanie said with a smile.

"Hmm." I couldn't talk. I was sorting out what I wanted to say.

Stephanie looked up at me with concern. "Jacob, are you okay? You look sick."

"No, no, I'm not sick." I said.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Stephanie, I've been thinking a lot about us, well, mostly you. I know that after the wedding we will have to go home and settle things before we live here for good. The time apart from you will be torture." I stopped and inhaled deeply. "While you are away from me, even if it's only for a few days, I want a piece of me to go with you. When we return, I want us to start our lives together…with you as my wife."

I took the bracelet from my jacket pocket and tied it onto Stephanie's wrist.

"My dad gave this to my mom when he proposed."

"Oh, Jacob." Stephanie said with tears in her eyes.

It was pretty emotional for me to see her wear my mom's bracelet. I fought back my own tears. It was just a leather band with a few blue beads, but it was priceless to me.

"I know it's not a diamond, but I have one of those, too." I said and took the ring from my pocket. Stephanie's eyes widened.

"Aro caught me thinking about proposing to you. He clapped his hands together and said it was wonderful, then disappeared. He came back with this ring. He blabbed on about it belonging to some queen of England a long time ago and how it's three carats and a bunch of stuff I didn't understand. But I took it because he said that the bracelet was precious to my family, but you should also have something just as valuable to represent your new family. He said that we were his son and daughter now. He also gave me a band for you to give me on our wedding day."

I realized that I hadn't technically asked her, so I got down on one knee and took her hand into mine.

"Stephanie, I've tried to think of what I wanted to say to you now, but nothing seemed to fit. I couldn't find the right words. I've decided that there isn't a word strong enough to describe how much I love you. You are my life and every day I live for you. I wake up every morning and I'm excited because I know I'll get to see you smile. I'll get to hear your laugh, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to feel your body against mine." I grinned.

She laughed through her tears.

"I want to spend my life trying my best to make you happy. I will live the rest of my days the happiest man in the world if you'll just say yes. Will you marry me, Stephanie?"

I was surprised when she kneeled on her knees in front of me. I guess she didn't care that she had on a super fancy dress. She took my face in her hands and kissed me gently then laid her forehead against mine.

"Yes." she whispered.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her again, this time not so gently. My wolf roared inside me at the need to take her. It was completely not the place or the time!

I pulled away from her reluctantly then slid the ring on her finger.

"I love you, Jacob." Stephanie said with tears running down her face.

I took her face into my hands and kissed the tears away.

"I love you, too."

We joined the reception about a half hour later. I searched the lawn for Lala and saw her dancing with Caius. He twirled her all over the dance floor making her laugh. Caius seemed to enjoy it just as much as she did.

"Ah, there's my lovely Stephanie!" an excited voice called from the crowd. Aro was beside us in a blink of an eye. "Jacob, would you mind if I took your lovely fiancé to the dance floor?"

"Not at all, Aro. Have fun." I said.

Stephanie giggled as Aro led her away.

I saw Lala standing alone. She smiled at me and motioned for me to come. Though I hated dancing, I would have kicked myself later if I didn't dance with her.

"Why is Stephanie thinking about wedding dresses?" Lala asked with a sly grin.

"As if you don't know." I rolled my eyes.

"Jake, I'm so happy for you." Lala hugged me tighter.

We danced for two songs, talking about how happy our new lives have turned out with our soul mates.

"May I cut in? It has been a half hour since I've had my wife in my arms. I can't wait another minute." Caius said with a smile, though his eyes were intense. I guessed he had his own sort of wolf that demanded his mate like I do.

I found Stephanie talking to Jane. I pulled her onto the dance floor and held her tight against me. We starred at one another intently. The way her hips swayed against me to the rhythm of the music was…hot. I leaned into her and let my lips graze the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders. She shivered and moaned quietly. I was then aware that my dress pants didn't accommodate my rapidly growing erection.

She looked up at me seductively. "Tomorrow we leave each other. It may be several days before we are together again." she raised on her tip toes and flicked my ear with her tongue. "Let's make the most of tonight."

"Mr. and Mrs. Black, rise and shine. Mr. and Mrs. Volturi are about to leave on our honeymoon and I can't go without saying goodbye." Lala called from the hall.

Stephanie was already dressed and was zipping her suitcase.

I rolled out of bed and wrapped my arms around her. I buried my face into her neck and inhaled her intoxicating scent. I would miss her so much in the week that we would be apart. The upside was that once we were together again, we could spend each day of the rest of our lives with one another.

Stephanie's flight left earlier than mine so she would ride to the airport with Caius and Lala. I carried Stephanie's suitcase down for her and gave it to Demetri to put in the truck of the limo.

Lala put her hand on my arm and looked like she would have cried. "Jake, will you and Stephanie come visit? I'll send you both a plane ticket. You have two months to plan for when we get back from our trip.

"Where are you two going for two months? I'm guessing not to Niagara Falls or a cabin in the mountains like most newlyweds?" I asked.

I heard Caius laugh from behind me. "We're going everywhere. My wife hasn't seen much of the world. I'm happy to serve as her tour guide to some of my favorite places."

"Bring me back a t-shirt. One that says, 'My cousin went EVERYWHERE and all I got was this lousy t-shirt." I chuckled.

Caius shook my hand, then Lala wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tight.

"I love you to the moon, Jake." she said.

"And I love you more than mud pies." I laughed, then kissed her head.

We had said that since we were kids.

Lala then hugged Stephanie. "You have two months to relax, but when I get home we have a wedding to plan!"

"Call me when you can." Stephanie said to her.

"Of course! I can't live two weeks, better yet two months, without girl talk!" Lala laughed.

We sat quiet for a minute, then Stephanie giggled. "Alright, which on of us is going to tell her? I can't stand it!"

Lala looked bewildered. "Tell me what?"

I looked at Stephanie and nodded.

"I hope you are willing to share your new wing of the castle because me and Jake are moving in!"

"Wha…?" Lala said, her eyes wide.

"I will tell you all the details on the plane, darling, but when we get home, Stephanie and Jacob will be here to stay." Caius smiled brightly.

Lala jumped up and down and looked like she could cry. "Then I will see you both when we get home! I'm so happy to have you both live here with us. My family is now complete!"

Caius took Lala's hand and helped her into the limo. I wished I had missed him brush his…um, self, against her backside when she climbed inside.

"Caius, you are too much!" Lala laughed.

I turned to Stephanie.

"Do you love me more than mud pies?" she asked.

I smiled. "Absolutely!"

She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I didn't want to let her go.

"Promise me you'll call or text me every hour until we are together again." she said, tears pooling in her eyes.

"I promise. I'll meet you in this spot one week from today, then we will begin our lives together."

I rested my forehead on hers.

"Forever?" she asked with a smile.

I kissed her gently.

"Forever."


End file.
